Lethrinus borbonicus, the snubnose emperor, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Lethrinidae, the emperor breams and emperors. This species is found in the Western Indian Ocean and is of some importance to commercial fisheries in that region.

Taxonomy Lethrinus borbonicus was first formally described in 1830 by the French zoologist Achille Valenciennes with its type locality given as Réunion in the Mascarene Islands. Some authors place the genus Lethrinus in the monotypic subfamily Lethrininae, with all the other genera of Lethrinidae placed in the Monotaxinae, however, the 5th edition of Fishes of the World does not recognise the subfamilies traditionally accepted within the family Lethrinidae as valid. The family Lethrinidae is classified by the 5th edition of Fishes of the World as belonging to the order Spariformes.

Etymology Lethrinus borbonicus has the specific name borbonicus, meaning "of Borbon" or "of Bourbon", an older name for Réunion being Bourbon.

Description Lethrinus borbonicus has its dorsal fin supported by 10 spines, the 4th or 5th spine being the longest, and 9 soft rays while the anal fin is supported by 3 spines and 8 soft rays. It has a moderately deep body with a depth fitting into its standard length 2.5 to 2.8 times. The space between the large eyes is normally convex and it has a moderately short, blunt snout with a straight profile. The teeth in the sides of the jaws are molar-like and the outer surface of the maxilla has a ridge.