Red Sea goatfish

Type Description

"Body elongated with pointed snout. Mouth at the lower part of head. Jaws do not reach back the vertical of eye. Large canine teeth on upper jaw followed by stout conical teeth. No canine teeth in the lower jaw. A pair of long barble on the chin reaching back the operculum edge. Two dorsal fins. The first dorsal spine very small, the 2nd and 3rd spines are the longest. The last rays of the dorsal and anal fins are elongated. Caudal fin forked. Body covered with large scales, three scales between the two dorsal fins.
Typical body coloration of this species is whitish with brown back and a black longitudinal stripe running from the snout to below the end of second dorsal fin base, plus a black spot on the upper caudal peduncle.

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Habitat

The Red Sea goatfish Parupeneus forsskali (Fourmanoir and Guézé, 1976) is a tropical fish species distributed throughout the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden region (Randall, 2004; Randall and Heemstra, 2009; Froese and Pauly, 2017). The Red Sea goatfish usually found on sand bottoms near coral reefs (Kumaran and Randall, 1984)

Reproductive Information

Eggs and larvae planktonic. The juveniles settle in sandy shores and use them as nursery grounds. 

Lifecycle

Nutrition Information

Feeds on small benthic invertebrates, mainly crustaceans and polychaetes which they detect by probing their barbles in the sand.

General Impact Information

General Management Information

General Pathway Information

 The introduction of this species in the Mediterranean Sea was thought to be via the Suez Canal.

Notes

References