Australian Goatfish, Upeneus australiae (Kim & Nakaya, 2002)

Scientific name: Upeneus australiae
Upeneus australiae Click to enlarge image
Australian Goatfish at a depth of 1 m, near Minnamurra River mouth, New South Wales, May 2007. Image: Sascha Schulz
© Sascha Schulz

Fast Facts

  • Classification
    Genus
    Upeneus
    Species
    australiae
    Family
    Mullidae
    Order
    Perciformes
    Class
    Actinopterygii
    Subphylum
    Vertebrata
    Phylum
    Chordata
    Kingdom
    Animalia
  • Size Range
    It grows to about 9 cm in standard length.

Introduction

The Australian Goatfish occurs in Australia and New Caledonia in shallow inshore waters often on sandy substrates. The holotype (AMS I.34384-012) and several of the paratypes (AMS I.24350-001, AMS I.34384-004, AMS I.34396-001, AMS I.34398-062) are lodged in the Australian Museum Fish Collection.

Identification

The Australian Goatfish has five and six oblique black bars on the upper and lower caudal fin lobes respectively and seven first dorsal fin spines. Dorsally It is light brownish with white reticulations. The lower sides are white. There is a yellowish-brown stripe along the sides of the body.

Habitat

It is a benthic species that occurs in shallow (<15 m) inshore waters often on sandy substrates.

Distribution

The species occurs in Australia and New Caledonia. In Australia, it is currently known from few locations off north-western Western Australia, Queensland and the Sydney-Wollongong region of New South Wales.

The map below shows the Australian distribution of the species based on public sightings and specimens in Australian Museums. Source: Atlas of Living Australia.

Further reading

  1. Hoese, D.F., Bray, D.J., Paxton, J.R. & G.R. Allen. 2006. Fishes. In Beesley, P.L. & A. Wells. (eds) Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Volume 35. ABRS & CSIRO Publishing: Australia. parts 1-3, pages 1-2178.
  2. Kim B.-J. & K. Nakaya, K. 2002. Upeneus australiae, a new goatfish (Mullidae: Perciformes) from Australia. Ichthyological. Research. 49: 128-132.
  3. Randall, J.E & M. Kulbicki. 2006. A Review of the Goatfishes of the Genus Upeneus (Perciformes: Mullidae) from New Caledonia and the Chesterfield Bank, with a New Species and Four New Records. Zoological Studies. 45(3): 298-307.