Ruby Snapper
Offshore / Deep reefA deep-water tropical snapper of northern WA — vivid red above, pinkish-white below, with the white-tipped lower tail lobe of the Etelis snappers. Lives deep, from around 90m to over 300m on the continental slope off the Gascoyne, Pilbara and Kimberley. A true demersal scalefish managed within the demersal mixed bag, and an excellent deep-drop table fish.
Overview
Ruby snapper (Etelis carbunculus) are a deep-water tropical snapper of WA's north — brilliant red with a paler belly and the distinctive white tip on the lower lobe of the tail that marks the Etelis genus. They live deep, on rough bottom and slope ledges from around 90m down past 300m, off the Gascoyne, Pilbara and Kimberley, often in aggregations alongside goldband snapper and other deep-drop species. This is electric-reel and heavy-handline country — a deep-drop demersal fishery rather than anything you'll reach inshore — and ruby snapper are one of the prizes of it, a clean, deep-living tropical snapper that's superb on the plate. They're a demersal scalefish for management purposes and counted within the demersal mixed bag.
Identification
Ruby, deepwater red snapper
Three red fish, three different animals. Ruby snapper (Etelis carbunculus) is a deep-slope Etelis snapper — brilliant red above fading to pinkish-white below, a big eye for the dark water it lives in, and the family marker of a white tip on the lower lobe of the forked tail. Northern 'nannygai' is the saddletail snapper, a deeper-bodied Lutjanus with a dark saddle blotch above the tail base, no white tail tip, and caught much shallower. South Coast 'nannygai' is the Bight redfish, a different family again in cool southern water. If it came up from 200m off the Pilbara with a white-tipped tail, it's a ruby.
How to Catch
Squid, octopus, fish fillet strips (mullet, mackerel, bonito), whole small baitfish — tough baits that survive the deep drop
Deep-drop knife and slow-pitch jigs (250–500g+), large soft plastics on heavy jigheads — though most deep ruby fishing is bait on droppers
Deep-drop paternoster rig with multiple 8/0–10/0 circle hooks on heavy droppers, a 60–100lb mono mainline trace, and a heavy sinker (32oz–48oz+) to reach and hold bottom at depth. Electric reels or heavy handlines do the work. Lumo tubing or beads on the droppers help in the dark of deep water.
Drift or hold position over slope ledges and rough bottom in 90–350m, dropping a baited deep-drop rig to the bottom and winding a turn or two up. Mark aggregations on a quality sounder before committing — at these depths you fish the fish, not the water. Once on the bottom, small lifts and a steady hold tempt the bite; bring fish up at a controlled speed. Barotrauma is total at this depth, so fish you intend to keep, you keep — release is not viable from the slope.
Northern WA fishes year-round; the cooler months (May–September) offer the best weather windows for the offshore and deep-drop work. Lighter tide and current (neap periods) make holding bottom at depth far easier. Dawn and dusk help, but at these depths time of day matters less than current.
Up to 1m, commonly 50–80cm (to several kg)
Year-round (Gascoyne / North Coast)
Size & Growth
Ruby snapper commonly come up at 50–80cm and a few kilos. A good fish is over 80cm and pushing 8–10kg; the species reaches around a metre, and a fish that size is a standout on any deep-drop trip. Like most deep-slope snappers they're slow-growing and long-lived — fish from 200m-plus water can be decades old — so a big ruby represents a long time on the slope rather than one fast season's growth. That, plus the fact that none of them survive release from those depths, is the argument for stopping once you've got what you'll actually eat.
Diet & Habitat
Ruby snapper are deep-slope predators, taking small fish, squid and crustaceans in the dark water near the bottom. They hold on rough ground, slope ledges, drop-offs and pinnacles from roughly 90m down past 300m, usually in loose aggregations and often mixed with goldband snapper and other deep-drop species. In WA that puts them well offshore along the continental slope of the Gascoyne, Pilbara and Kimberley — out from Exmouth, Onslow, Dampier and Broome. There's no shore or shallow-reef version of this fishery: if you can reach the ground on a standard bottom outfit, it isn't ruby snapper country.
WA Size & Bag Limits
| Minimum size | No minimum size |
|---|---|
| Bag limit | 4 outside the West Coast bioregion; 2 in the West Coast bioregion; 1 at the Abrolhos Islands |
| Counts toward | Counts within the demersal scalefish mixed daily bag — 4 outside the West Coast bioregion, with tighter limits at the Abrolhos and in the West Coast region. |
Ruby snapper is a tropical snapper (Family Lutjanidae) and a demersal scalefish: no specific minimum size in WA, counted within the demersal scalefish mixed daily bag (4 outside the West Coast bioregion; tighter limits at the Abrolhos and in the West Coast region). It's a northern, deep-water fishery largely outside the West Coast boat-based demersal closure (Kalbarri to Augusta, in force until at least Spring 2027).
Eating Quality
Excellent — clean, firm, white-to-pink flesh with a mild, faintly sweet flavour and a large, moist flake. One of the best of the deep-drop tropical snappers, and the cold deep water it comes from means the flesh arrives on deck in superb condition. Bleed and ice on capture anyway; tropical heat undoes that advantage fast. Small and mid-sized fish are ideal pan and grill fish, while bigger ones give thick loins that suit baking whole, cutlets, or sashimi if you're set up to handle them cleanly. It's forgiving — it holds together in a curry and takes strong flavours without losing itself. It also freezes better than most: vacuum-sealed fillets are still good months later, which matters when one deep-drop session fills the esky.
Perth Tips
This is a boat-based deep-drop fishery off the Gascoyne, Pilbara and Kimberley slope — electric reels, heavy sinkers and a good sounder are the tools. Identify ruby snapper by the brilliant red colour and the white-tipped lower tail lobe to separate them from goldband and other deep snappers. Because barotrauma is unavoidable from the slope, plan your catch and stop fishing once you've reached your demersal bag — you can't release these fish to swim back down.