Double check that red snapper

Red snapper is prized for its taste and priced accordingly at as much as $15 per pound. But fish lovers should beware: A new study has found that as much as three-quarters of the fish sold as red snapper may actually be a different variety.

Peter Marko, a professor of marine science at the University of North Carolina, and his students used DNA sequencing to test 22 fillets of fish identified as red snapper from nine different vendors and discovered that 77 percent were mislabeled.

“I thought we would find a few mislabeled fish, but we were surprised to see that most of the fish were not what they’re labeled as,” he said.

Many were actually vermillion snapper or lane snapper. Marko said discriminating palates might notice a difference in texture and taste because red snapper generally grow to be larger, which can affect those qualities.

The study included fish from two New York City retailers, though Marko declined to identify the stores. Of the city fish, one tested as vermillion and the other as red snapper.

Part of the problem may be confusion rather than outright deception. The snapper varieties are similar in appearance, and regulations governing the labeling are unclear. Calls to New York area fish sellers Wednesday revealed prices ranging from $5.99 to $14.99 per pound for fillets of red snapper.

None of the vendors was selling fish labeled as any other variety of snapper.

Nutritionally, the fish are indistinguishable.

“If someone’s buying red snapper and they’re getting some other snapper, they’re still getting a fairly decent fish. They’re just not getting the marquee fish that they thought.”

Mislabeling can also lead to a false impression of a fish’s abundance in the sea, Marko said. This can have negative consequences for efforts to balance demand with sustainable fishing practices. A 1997 report from the National Marine Fisheries Service, a federal agency, found that red snapper is “severely overfished.”

A trained eye can distinguish among the different types of snapper, said Michael O’Hanlon, a Long Island fish market manager. “I know the difference by looking at them. Vermillions have slight lines through the skin of the fish.”

Marko advises consumers to ask questions. “The best thing is to always ask – verify what it is and ask where it came from. If they don’t know where it came from, it may not be the real thing.”