Striped Red Mullet

Description:

Locally known as 'Trlja' or Trlja kamenjarka', this is a common species of goatfish in Adriatic. Here, probably juveniles, about 10-12cm in length, but normal size for them is about 25cm in length. The first dorsal fin is striped, distinguishing it from other fishes from Mullus genus. It also sports distinguished 'moustaches' below the snout, in fact a sensing organ used to search for prey among rocks. Otherwise, this is silvery red fish, a bit darker above, and with dark red pattern on the body of many variations. Long lateral stripe can be more or less visible, and its colour ranges from dark yellow (pic N° 5) to a very dark red, almost black. Some common variations of colours can be seen on this (excellent) website (unfortunately only in Croatian) : https://dalibor-andres.from.hr/uw/jr_015...

Habitat:

This is a very common goatfish in Adriatic sea, occurring all along Croatian littoral. Here, observed several times, and always close to shores, on a popular beaches in a village of Dubrovnik riviera (Cavtat). The depth in this zone is between 0,5m up to 3m, and then descending sharply down to 10m. The sea bottom here is rocky, creating many crevasses and tunnels, and rocks are abundantly covered in algae. In those deeper waters, there are some large colonies of sea grass