Goatfish

Goatfish: Understanding the Characteristics of Goatfish

Goatfish are reef-dwelling tropical fish that can be found in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans. They are from the marine perciform family Mullidae. There are roughly 6 different genera and as many as 55 different species of goatfish.

The characteristics of goatfish:

• While goatfish display awesome colors, they are not fancied by aquarium keepers because they are benthic feeders. They are like goats; they eat anything including crustaceans, molluscs, worms and any other small invertebrates. Like catfish, they use 2 whiskers to stir up the bottom surface and uncover their meals.
• The dash-and-dot goatfish is the largest type and can measure up to over 24 inches. Most types of goatfish are only about half that size though.
• Goatfish have deepened, long bodies that are fitted with forked tail fins and dorsal fins that are placed far apart in width.
• Goatfish do not prefer daytime feeding. Instead, they form large aggregates of non-feeding conspecifics and heterospecifics to protect themselves.

More goatfish facts:

• Mulloidicthys vaniocolensis, the yellowfin goatfish of Hawaii and the Red Sea are able to change their color scheme to blend with schools of other fish for protection.
• They loot the bottom surfaces of their hunting grounds at night. They are often followed by other night scavengers trying to capitalize on overlooked morsels.
• Goatfish prefer shallower waters - never venturing deeper than around 110 meters.
• Goatfish are classified as pelagic spawners. That means that they release buoyant eggs on the surface of the waters that become a part of the surrounding plankton. They remain floating on the surface in their post-larva stage until they reach 5 or 6 centimeters in length. at that point, they descend and become bottom-feeding adults.

Goatfish continue to thrive in and around coral regions in all major oceans as well as other localities.