The blackfin snapper was first formally described as Mesoprion buccanellla in 1828 by the French zoologist Georges Cuvier with the type locality given as jointly as Martinique and St Thomas Island in the West Indies.

There is an obvious dark comma at the base of the pectoral fins, which gave this fish its most widely accepted common name.

The juveniles are resemble the adults but they have a wide vivid yellow patch on the dorsal part of the caudal peduncle.

Its range extends from Bermuda and North Carolina southwards along the Atlantic coast of the United States to the Bahamas, then west into the Gulf of Mexico from the Florida Keys, the Flower Garden Banks and vicinity to Veracruz, Mexico south to the northern Yucatan Peninsula and northwestern Cuba.

This species has a number of predators throughout its life including other snappers, sharks, barracudas, groupers and moray eels.

[2] It is caught as part of a mixed snapper catch using traps, handlines and longlines.

The deeper habitats and resultant specialised fishing equipment required to catch this species offer some protection from overexploitation.