Snappers are considered "sedentary" as they have a small home range. They remain in the same reef area for most of their adulthood. Because of their easily identified reef habitat, they are fished by humans. They are a well-known delicacy as there are more than 1 million snapper (especially red snapper) recipes available online.
However, snappers are slow-growing and long-lived animals. They take 3 to 5 years to mature and can grow up to 15 kg. Fishes with long life histories and slow growth rates are having difficulties withstanding the increasing fishing pressure.
Snappers are omnivorous. They prey predominantly on crustaceans, but they also eat shellfish, sea urchins, and other fish. Like many fishes in the ocean, snappers become the prey of larger fishes in the reef habitats such as grouper and blacktip reef sharks.