The vermilion snapper (Rhomboplites aurorubens), the clubhead snapper, night snapper, Brian’s red fish or beeliner is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a snapper belonging to the family Lutjanidae. It is native to the western Atlantic Ocean. Taxonomy The vermilion snapper was first formally described in 1829 as Centropristis aurorubens by the French zoologist Georges Cuvier with the type locality given as Brazil, Martinique and Santo Domingo. It is now classified as the only species in the monotypic genus Rhomboplites which was created by Theodore Nicholas Gill in 1862, which is within the subfamily Lutjaninae. The generic name Rhomboplites is a compound of rhombo meaning rhombus-shaped and hoplites meaning “armed” a reference to rhombic shape of the patch of vomerine teeth. The specific name is also a compound, aureus meaning “golden” and rubens meaning “reddish”, a reference to the golden-red colour this specimens develop when preserved in alcohol. Description The vermilion snapper has an elongated, oblong body, With a short snout, a slightly protruding lower jaw and a small mouth. There are two pairs of nostrils on the snout, front and rear, which are simple holes. The upper jaw slides under neath the cheekbones when the mouth is shut. There are no enlarged canines in the jaws and the vomerine teeth are arranged in a triangular or rhombus shaped patch with a wide rearwards extension and there is a patch of granular teeth on the tongue. The dorsal fin has 12-13 spines and 10-11 soft rays while the anal fin contains 3 spines and 8 soft rays, and the anal fin is rounded. The pectoral fins contain 17-19 fin rays and are comparatively short, not extending as far as the level of the anus. The caudal fin is forked, but not extremely so. This species attains a maximum total length of , although of is more typical, and the maximum published weight is . The overall colour is bright red fading to pink on the lower flanks and then to whitish on the abdomen. There is a series of short wavy oblique blue lines on the sides flanks above the lateral line which are created by spots on the scales, there may be yellow streaks below the lateral line. The anal fin is pinkish red; the caudal fin is red with a black margin, the dorsal fin is red with a yellow margin and the pectoral fins are red. Distribution