The African brown snapper has a relatively deep body with a slightly rounded head. Its mouth extends as far as the centre line of the eye and has thick lips. The notch and knob on the preoperculum are weak. The vomerine teeth are arranged in a triangular patch in adults, chevron shaped in juveniles and the adults sometime have a small rearwards extension. The dorsal fin contains 10 spines and 13-14 soft rays while the anal fin has 3 spines and 8 soft rays. In adults the pectoral fins do not extend as far as the anus and contain 17 rays. The maximum total length recorded for this species is 150 cm (59 in) although 50 cm (20 in) is more typical, the maximum published weight is 50 kg (110 lb). The back and upper flanks of adults are dusky grey in colour fading to whiteish pink on the lower flanks and abdomen. The juveniles have alternating light and dark vertical bars of roughly equal widths on their flanks. The African brown snapper is found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean. It occurs along the western coast of African from Senegal to Angola, including Bioko and São Tomé and Príncipe. It has occurred in the Canary Islands. This species is found in relatively shallow waters at depths between 2 and 50 m (6 ft 7 in and 164 ft 1 in) normally over rocky and coral reefs but it is also found in brackish lagoons, mangroves and occasionally in rivers.
