Striped Red Mullet

Description:

Locally known as 'Trlja' or Trlja kamenjarka', this is a common species of goatfish in Adriatic. Here, roughly some 25cm in length, so I guess an adult. The first dorsal fin is striped, distinguishing it from other fishes from Mullus genus. It also sports whitish 'moustaches' below the snout (well seen in pics 2 and 3), 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 blotches on the body.

Habitat:

This is a very common goatfish in Adriatic sea, occurring all along Croatian littoral. I observed smaller and younger ones several times at this very spot - 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. This one here, it was the only time I've seen, while it was feeding at some 3m of depth.