Fish
Snapper Kob
Otolithes ruber
A slender silvery kob of KZN's inshore sand and estuaries, armed with two long fang-like canine teeth.
Also known as kob(snapper), snapper salmon, tigertooth croaker
- Typical size
- Commonly 30-50 cm
- Habitat
- Inshore sand, surf and estuary mouths
- Depth
- Shallow inshore to about 40 m
The snapper kob, or tigertooth croaker, is an elongate silvery member of the kob family, more slender than the dusky and silver kob, and named for the pair of prominent canine or fang-like teeth at the front of the upper jaw. Like other kob it produces a drumming sound with its swim bladder.
It is a warm-water species of the KwaZulu-Natal coast, favouring inshore sandy grounds, surf zones and the lower reaches of estuaries where it hunts smaller fish and prawns. A common light-tackle angling catch, it should be handled with care given its sharp teeth and gill covers; smaller inshore kob species are best released to protect breeding stock.