Madeira Canary Islands Azores – Fishes Dr. Peter Wirtz

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Goatfishes (Mullidae)
Striped mullet (Mullus surmuletus)
Up to 35 cm long. Madeira, Canary Islands, Azores. 1 – 300 m depth.
With their long barbels, goatfish feel for food on soft bottoms. Sometimes, they dig deep holes into the sand
or mud. Digging goatfish attract many other fish species (pufferfish, wrasses, breams) that try to pick up
organisms uncovered by the goatfish. The barbels can be folded into a groove on the throat. The animal
figured in the photo is being cleaned by a juvenile rainbow wrasse (Coris julis). The Striped mullet attains
sexual maturity with a size of about 15 cm and reaches an age of up to five years. Photo Peter Wirtz.
West-African goatfish (Pseudupeneus prayensis)
Up to 50 cm long. Canary Islands. 5 – 300 m depth.
The West-African goatfish lives like the Striped mullet (see above). It is a tropical species, known from
southern Morocco to Angola and the Cape Verde Islands. Nowadays, one can also encounter it at the Canary
Islands but it is (still) quite rare there. It is unknown if this fish made the jump over the open ocean by itself or
if it has been transported to the Canaries by man. Photo (from the Cape Verde Islands) Peter Wirtz.
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Sea chubs (Kyphosidae)
Bermuda sea chub (Kyphosus sectatrix)
Up to 70 cm long. Madeira, Canary Islands, Azores. 1 – 30 m depth.