Dr. Glen Whisson, Aqua Research and Monitoring Services, Australien
Info
The blue-spotted mullet is highly variable in color - often whitish to pale pink with a brownish to reddish stripe along the side, or reddish with bright blue spots and wavy lines, and usually with blue spots and streaks on the fins.
Some specimens have a reddish to blackish stripe running from the snout across the eye to the base of the tail. Others have blue lines and spots. They can change color quickly and may be even lighter in color at night.
The barbel inhabits bays, estuaries, and sheltered coastal waters, usually over sand and rubble flats near reefs, at depths up to 200 meters.
Juveniles often form schools in sheltered bays.
Barbels use their sensory barbels on the chin to scan the sediment for food.
Upeneichthys vlamingii resembles the striped mullet (Upeneichthys lineatus), which has a slightly shorter head and a lighter body stripe.
Rhadinorhynchus pichelinae parasitizes the barbel.
Etymology
The species was named in honor of Admiral Cornelis de Vlamingh, a collector and illustrator of fishes for the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris, France.
Synonyms:
Upeneichthys flamingii (Cuvier, 1829).
Upeneus vlamingii Cuvier, 1829
Some specimens have a reddish to blackish stripe running from the snout across the eye to the base of the tail. Others have blue lines and spots. They can change color quickly and may be even lighter in color at night.
The barbel inhabits bays, estuaries, and sheltered coastal waters, usually over sand and rubble flats near reefs, at depths up to 200 meters.
Juveniles often form schools in sheltered bays.
Barbels use their sensory barbels on the chin to scan the sediment for food.
Upeneichthys vlamingii resembles the striped mullet (Upeneichthys lineatus), which has a slightly shorter head and a lighter body stripe.
Rhadinorhynchus pichelinae parasitizes the barbel.
Etymology
The species was named in honor of Admiral Cornelis de Vlamingh, a collector and illustrator of fishes for the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris, France.
Synonyms:
Upeneichthys flamingii (Cuvier, 1829).
Upeneus vlamingii Cuvier, 1829
