Yellowfin goatfish

The yellowfin goatfish (Mulloidichthys vanicolensis) is a species of goatfish native to the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.[2]

Yellowfin goatfish
Mulloidichthys vanicolensis at Hurghada, Red Sea
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Mullidae
Genus: Mulloidichthys
Species:
M. vanicolensis
Binomial name
Mulloidichthys vanicolensis
(Valenciennes, 1831)
Synonyms
  • Upeneus vanicolensis Valenciennes, 1831
  • Mulloides vanicolensis (Valenciennes, 1831)
  • Pseudopeneus vanicolensis (Valenciennes, 1831)
  • Pseudupeneus vanicolensis (Valenciennes, 1831)
  • Mulloides erythrinus Klunzinger, 1884

Description
Mulloidichthys vanicolensis sold in a fish market in New Caledonia

M. vanicolensis can reach a maximum length of 38 cm (15 in).[2] The back is red-orange, while the flanks and the belly are whitish and the fins are yellow. The sides show a yellow longitudinal band. This species feeds on crustaceans or worms at night. By day, it forms large aggregations.[2]

Distribution and habitat

These fish are widespread in the Indo-Pacific, from the Red Sea to Hawaii and the Tuamotus, north to Japan and to Lord Howe Island to the south.[2] The yellowfin goatfish is a reef-associated species. It usually can be found in lagoons and seaward reefs at depths of 1–113 m (3.3–370.7 ft).[2]

Parasites

Two genera of monogenean gill parasites, namely Volsellituba and Pennulituba, with a total of five different species, including V. orchidea, V. nabla, V. elephantina, P. piratifalx, and P. cymansis, have been reported from the yellowfin goatfish off New Caledonia, and were apparently found only on this species of fish.[3] The apocreadiid digenean Homalometron moraveci is found in the intestine.[4]

References
  1. Smith-Vaniz, W.F. & Williams, I. (2016). "Mulloidichthys vanicolensis (errata version published in 2017)". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T69181884A115458186. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  2. Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2013). "Mulloidichthys vanicolensis" in FishBase. December 2013 version.
  3. Řehulková, E.; Justine, JL.; Gelnar, M. (Feb 2010). "Five new monogenean species from the gills of Mulloidichthys vanicolensis (Perciformes: Mullidae) off New Caledonia, with the proposal of Volsellituba n. g. and Pennulituba n. g. (Monogenea: Dactylogyridae)". Systematic Parasitology. 75 (2): 125–45. doi:10.1007/s11230-009-9225-3. PMID 20119705.
  4. Bray, R. A., Justine, J.-L. & Cribb, T. H. 2007: Homalometron moraveci n. sp. (Digenea: Apocreadiidae) in the yellowfin goatfish, Mulloidichthys vanicolensis (Valenciennes, 1831) (Perciformes: Mullidae), from New Caledonia and the Great Barrier Reef, with a checklist of digeneans of Mulloidichthys species. Zootaxa, 1525, 41-49.
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