It is a commercially important species and is a sought-after game fish, though it has been reported to cause ciguatera poisoning.

The cubera snapper was first formally described as Mesoprion cyanopterus in 1828 by the French zoologist Georges Cuvier with the type locality given as Brazil.

[2] The overall colour of this species is grey to dark brown with pale to dark-grey flanks with some individuals showing a slight reddish hue on the body.

[5] The cubera snapper is found in the western Atlantic Ocean, from as far north as Nova Scotia to as far south as Santa Catarina in Brazil,and throughout the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico and around Bermuda.

They gather in large numbers, up to 10,000 fish over shallow spawning sites in off-shore waters at places such as outer reef slopes and sandy drop-offs.

[10] The eggs hatch within a day of fertilisation and the larvae are pelagic, drifting with the currents until they settle.

[1] In the United States, this species is subject to bag and size limits for both commercial and recreational fisheries.