another dumb question

[zappafreak]

For the moment while freshly fishing on a partyboat out of Destin FL, I catched several small grey Snaspper-looking fish, the mates called them ruby red lips, and thrown them back in, what are these little guys really called? In particular and why did they strongly throw them back?

[zappafreak]

I think it may have really been a grunt, are these edible?

[jkhandy]

Jack

[Kyandee]

The deckhand grabbed it, filleted it, and said `Drop that down there." It caught the biggest red snapper of the day.

[krol]

According to the National Marine Fisheries Service, there are two fish locally known as a Ruby Red Lips.
The first Ruby Red Lips fish is a White Grunt (Haemulon Plumieri) and the term is known to be used in the Eastern Gulf. A photo is hastily located at http://marinefisheries.org/fish/whtgrunt.jpg
The second Ruby Red Lips fish is a Tomtate (Haemulon Aurolineatum) and this term is used in the Northern Gulf. A photo is located at http://marinefisheries.org/fish/tomtate.jpg
A good list of fish photos links, specifically listed by their accepted common names, is located at http://www.outdoor-links.com/fihsid.htm