Goatfishes have two barbels under their chins,
which look like a goatie beard. They eat worms and crustaceans found in
the loose sand. They are sociable. They turn red when dead.
Mullus= sea barbel, the Greek and Romans knew this fish from the Mediterranean
Sea. When dead, they all become reddish. (mulleus=red, purpur, L)
Goatfishes are found in all tropical to subtropical regions of the world
(Miocene to present). These fishes have two barbels extending under their
chins, which usually lay flat against their chins. With these barbles,
which act like tongues, they can stir the bottom and taste what lives there.
They like to live in sheltered waters, which is also home to their prey.
50-60 species world-wid, in NZ only three species are found, one of which
is common and which breeds here.
Upeneichthys
porosus - goatfish, red mullet, ahuruhuru
Goatfishes which are perhaps the
most beautiful fishes we have, are a common sight. They can change colour
rapidly and they can camouflage themselves by looking like the sand. They
feed by stirring the sandy bottom with their barbels. With these barbels
they taste what is there.
The
common goatfish is one of the most beautiful fishes in our country. It
can change colour rapidly from a sandy colour to bright red. At night when
resting on the bottom, goatfish are particularly beautiful. They are found
in tranquil waters above the sandy bottom, either in the deep of exposed
rocky shores or in the shallows of sheltered shores. Inside the Hauraki
Gulf, the goatfish is numerous. With its sensitive barbels it can find
its food easily and thus spends much of its time resting or socialising
in groups.
The goatfish is an elongate, bottom-living fish
of inshore waters that ranges in length from 15 to just over 30cm as an
adult. Small goatfish feed for most of the daylight hours, usually foraging
on the bottom in loose schools, eating mainly small crustaceans and worms.
In contrast large fish spend much of their time resting in groups on the
bottom and appear to have preferred gathering areas where large numbers
of individuals may be seen lying close together. These same rest areas
are used day after day for many years. Groups contain typically 20 fish
with 2-3 males and 5-6 mature females.
Large individuals feed mainly on blennies and
triplefins and can often be seen hunting these small fishes around crevices
and boulders. Sometimes groups of large goatfish hunt in a pack, gathering
around a suitable crevice or large sponge colony and frantically waving
their barbels over the bottom to herd the small fishes together so they
can be caught more easily .
Goatfish, sociable as they are, like to be groomed
by cleaner fishes and spend far more time than other fishes seeking cleaning
services in areas where they are available. Sometimes dozens of goatfish
can be seen clustered around a crimson cleaner fish or combfish, patiently
waiting their turn to be inspected for parasites.
Fishing: Goatfish are occasionally caught
on a small hook and make excellent eating but they are not fished commercially.
Description:
A steeply sloping forehead ends in a small downward facing mouth and beneath
the chin are a pair of conspicuous long barbels. This pair of feelers,
which is a feature of all goat-fishes, is used to dig in bottom crevices
or sediments to disturb invertebrates or small fish that are quickly snapped
up. There are two separate dorsal fins, the first high and triangular and
the second longer and more rounded. Goatfish are variable in colour. Small
individuals less than 20cm long, are pale pink-brown above, white below,
and have a line of dark brown squarish splotches along each flank. The
fins are yellowish, often tinged with blue. Larger specimens have this
same colour pattern when feeding or swimming but are differently coloured
when resting on the bottom. At these times the entire body and fins are
suffused with bright red, there is a pale blue spot on each body scale,
and blue markings on the head and fins. The line of brown markings on the
flanks becomes a dark red-brown. Courting males are similarly coloured
but are blue tinged pink rather than red and have bright blue markings
on the fins. At night, or when removed from the water, goatfish are bright
orange-red splotched with white.
Fins: Two dorsal fins; D VIII+I 8; A II
6; P I 5; LL 29; Length 15-30cm. Maximum 45cm at 400g. Large scales.
Life history: The life span of this species
is unknown. Juveniles settle out of the plankton when they are 3-4cm and
still a shiny silvery colour, which changes rapidly to white. By the end
of their first year these fish have reached about 13cm in length. Then
growth slows and 2 year old fish measure about 16cm.
The length of the breeding season is uncertain.
Courting behaviour can be observed frequently during November and December.
Pair spawning has been observed early February at dusk. The brightly coloured
male courts the female, moving about her in circles, displaying his bright
yellow dorsal fins. The pair move side by side up into the water column,
about 2m off the bottom. They roll sideways, ventral surfaces opposed,
and release their gametes into the water. The pair separate immediately
after spawning. Newly settled juveniles are first seen in the field over
late January and early February. (Sue Thompson, 1981)
During December and January large males of this
species set up temporary spawning territories and have elaborate border
displays and disputes to keep other males out. At this time pairs of these
males are often seen parading to and fro along a disputed border, fins
tautly spread and their colours glowing. These disputes sometimes end in
violent clashes that leave the combatants with gashes on their heads and
sides, and torn fins. Females straying within these territories are courted
with a similar spread-fin display, and if receptive are mounted by the
male as a prelude to the spawning run. With the male's pelvic fins straddling
the female's back, the fishes swim obliquely upwards for three or four
metres with an exaggerated sinuous swimming motion before turning, releasing
clouds of eggs and sperm, and rushing back to the bottom. Young goatfish
a few centimetres long first appear in March and April and grow rapidly
to reach a length of about 15cm by the end of their first year. (Ayling,
1972)
Distribution:
This
species is found on rocky reef areas or on sand patches near reefs from
depths of a few metres down to about 100m. They are common around the North
Island and the northern part of the South Island as well as being abundant
around most of Australia. Fish counts made by divers around eastern Northland
show the goatfish to be the most abundant of the larger reef fish and numbers
of about 10,000 per Kilometre of coastline were recorded.
In Australia this species is known as blue spotted
goatfish, black-striped goatfish and red mullet (Upeneichthys vlamingii).
In the drawing below (from Hutchins & Swainston), the following goatfishes
are shown: blue-striped goatfish (upeneichthys lineatus), black
spot goatfish (Parupeneus signatus), yellow-striped goatfish (Mulloides
vanicolensis, Parupeneus chrysopleuron), bar-tailed goatfish (Upeneus
tragula) and the blue-spotted goatfish (Upeneichthys vlamingi),
which is assumed to be identical to the NZ one.
Parupeneus
signatus - blackspot goatfish
The imprinted fish resembling Upeneus (para=resembling,
alike) (upene=??????) (signare=to inscribe, imprint, seal, stamp)
The black-spot goatfish is very similar in shape
to the common goatfish but grows to a larger size, attaining a maximum
length of over 40cm. During warm summers it is found in the warmer coastal
waters of NE NZ. Normally a sociable animal, the 'stragglers' found in
NZ are usually alone or in very small numbers. Consequently they seek to
socialise with fish that look like them. They are often found trying the
company of young Sandagers wrasses and female crimson cleanerfishes who
also have a black spot on their tails. But this leads to much frustration
because these two species hardly sit still for a moment and swim well above
the bottom.
Black-spot goatfish of anything over 20cm have
not been seen, suggesting that this species does not survive our cool winters
and that it does not reproduce here.
Description: Body colour of this species
varies from almost white to a dull red with an overlying pattern of four
broad longitudinal yellow-brown stripes. These begin on the snout and run
to the caudal peduncle where they fuse around a large black spot on each
side of the upper caudal peduncle.
Fins: D VII+I 8; A I 6; P I 5; LL 29. Length
10-15cm.
Life history: ????
Distribution: This species is widely distributed
in shallow water in the tropical Indo-Pacific region, and small numbers
have been found in warm years around some of the offshore islands of Northland's
east coast, especially at the Poor Knights Islands.
Upeneus
bensasi - bar-tailed goatfish
(upeneus=????) (bensasi=????)
The bar-tailed goatfish is even less common than
the black-spot goatfish.
Description: The bar-tailed goatfish is
more elongate and blunt headed than either of its New Zealand relatives,
and is markedly smaller, averaging only 10 to 15cm in length. In its natural
habitat this species is pale fawn in colour with a pink tinge on the back
and silver beneath. The fins are translucent with thin yellow-brown longitudinal
bands and the tail has a stripe of the same colour running the length of
the lower fin lobe and three transverse bands across the upper lobe. This
unusual irregular tail patterning is the most obvious distinguishing feature
of this fish. Fresh dead specimens are red-pink with bright red bars on
the fins.
Fins: D VII + I 8; A I 6; P I 5; LL 29.
Size 10-15cm.
Life history: ???
Distribution: This fish is found throughout
the Indo-Pacific from Japan to Australia and a few specimens were seen
at the Poor Knights Islands off the east coast of Northland in 1971. It
is likely that this goatfish is an irregular visitor to New Zealand drifting
across the Tasman Sea during the larval stage in years when the summer
water temperatures are high.
The
common goatfish is one of the most beautiful fishes in our country. It
can change colour rapidly from a sandy colour to bright red. At night when
resting on the bottom, goatfish are particularly beautiful. They are found
in tranquil waters above the sandy bottom, either in the deep of exposed
rocky shores or in the shallows of sheltered shores. Inside the Hauraki
Gulf, the goatfish is numerous. With its sensitive barbels it can find
its food easily and thus spends much of its time resting or socialising
in groups.
Description:
A steeply sloping forehead ends in a small downward facing mouth and beneath
the chin are a pair of conspicuous long barbels. This pair of feelers,
which is a feature of all goat-fishes, is used to dig in bottom crevices
or sediments to disturb invertebrates or small fish that are quickly snapped
up. There are two separate dorsal fins, the first high and triangular and
the second longer and more rounded. Goatfish are variable in colour. Small
individuals less than 20cm long, are pale pink-brown above, white below,
and have a line of dark brown squarish splotches along each flank. The
fins are yellowish, often tinged with blue. Larger specimens have this
same colour pattern when feeding or swimming but are differently coloured
when resting on the bottom. At these times the entire body and fins are
suffused with bright red, there is a pale blue spot on each body scale,
and blue markings on the head and fins. The line of brown markings on the
flanks becomes a dark red-brown. Courting males are similarly coloured
but are blue tinged pink rather than red and have bright blue markings
on the fins. At night, or when removed from the water, goatfish are bright
orange-red splotched with white.
Distribution:
This
species is found on rocky reef areas or on sand patches near reefs from
depths of a few metres down to about 100m. They are common around the North
Island and the northern part of the South Island as well as being abundant
around most of Australia. Fish counts made by divers around eastern Northland
show the goatfish to be the most abundant of the larger reef fish and numbers
of about 10,000 per Kilometre of coastline were recorded.