There's industry-level misrepresentation at play here, not just nefarious one-offs by the local fishmonger. On the Pacific coast of the US many retailers (whole

There's industry-level misrepresentation at play here, not just nefarious one-offs by the local fishmonger. On the Pacific coast of the US many retailers (whole foods, etc.) sell fish from the genus Sebastes ("rockfish") as "pacific snapper," though it isn't in Lutjanidae (snappers). From what I've gathered, this practice is old enough that many of the fishermen don't know it isn't what people on the East Coast would consider a snapper. Having grown up on the Gulf, I was amazed how cheap snapper was the first time I bought it, then promptly disappointed by how bad it was by comparison.