Mullus

{{Automatic taxobox

| image = Mullus barbatus 181115494.jpg

| image_caption = Red mullet (Mullus barbatus)

| taxon = Mullus

| authority = Linnaeus, 1758Linnaeus, C., 1758: Systema Naturae, Ed. X. (Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata.) Holmiae. Systema Naturae, Ed. X. v. 1: i-ii + 1-824.

| type_species = Mullus barbatus

| type_species_authority = Linnaeus, 1758{{Cof record|genid=143|title=Mullus|access-date=4 April 2020}}

}}

Mullus is a subtropical marine genus of ray-finned fish of the family Mullidae (goatfish) and includes the red mullets, occurring mainly in the southwest Atlantic near the South American coast and in the Eastern Atlantic including the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.{{cite book |editor=Paxton, J.R. |editor2=Eschmeyer, W.N.|author1=Johnson, G.D. |author2=Gill, A.C. |name-list-style=amp |year=1998|title=Encyclopedia of Fishes|publisher= Academic Press|location=San Diego|pages= 186|isbn= 0-12-547665-5}} These fish are benthic and can be found resting and feeding over soft substrates.

Distribution

Members of the genus Mullus can be found in the Atlantic Ocean, including the Mediterranean Sea. They are often found over soft substrates, such as sand, in which they search for prey using sensitive whiskers.

Species

There are currently four recognized species in this genus:{{FishBase genus | genus = Mullus| month = December | year = 2019}}

class="wikitable"

!Species

!Common name

!Image

Mullus argentinae

Hubbs & Marini, 1933

|Argentine goatfish

Mullus auratus

Jordan & Gilbert, 1882

|Red goatfish

|frameless

Mullus barbatus

Linnaeus, 1758

|Red mullet

|frameless

Mullus surmuletus

Linnaeus, 1758

|Surmullet

|frameless

Commercial Significance

The most commercially important of these species is the Red Mullet (M. barbatus) which is common in Mediterranean cuisine and often fished for using seine nets, a practice thought to be damaging as it can remove large numbers of spawning fish.

References

External links

Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus