LUTJANIDAE Lutjanus decussatus, 17.1 cm SL (photo by Seishi Kimura) Lutjanus decussatus (Cuvier, 1828) Checkered Snapper D X, 13-14; A III, 8-9; P1 16-17; LLp 47-50; GR 6 + 8-10. Body moderately deep. Preopercular notch and knob poorly developed. Vomerine tooth patch crescentic, without a medial posterior extension. Caudal fin emarginate. Scale rows on back rising obliquely above lateral line. Color: generally whitish with a "checker-board" pattern on upper half of sides, consisting of dark brown bars and stripes surrounding rectangular, whitish "windows"; a large black spot covering most of caudal-fin base. Size: maximum length about 30 cm. Distribution: eastern Indian Ocean and western Pacific from Sri Lanka to New Guinea and southern Indian and northward to the Ryukyu Islands. Large specimens known as often poisonous (ciguatera). Remarks: occurring from coral reefs and observed as both solitarily and in schools. Little importance but regularly seen in markets, and mainly collected by hook and line. (Yukio Iwatsuki)