Sushi red snapper I m trying to figure out how to handle various fishes known as red snapper and mostly wanted to leave this link here for myself for future reference There s a real mess with the species used in sushi Japanese snapper claims that species is used while Pagrus major says it is the species the Japanese common name madai is applied to Meanwhile izumidai redirects to northern red snapper but is apparently a term for sushi grade tilapia which is what most often appears as red snapper in Japanese restaurants in the US The broader issue is that red snapper refers to many fishes throughout the world Lutjanus campechanus is the red snapper of the southeastern US and the only species which the US FDA allows to be marketed as red snapper but enforcement is non existent A couple species are known as red snapper on the Pacific Coast of North America and it appears that snapper is exclusive to a single species in Hawaii and New Zealand Pretty much anywhere else in the world Indian Ocean Caribbean western Atlantic western Pacific red snapper is hopelessly ambiguous though most frequently refers to Lutjanus species