Species: Mullus auratus, Red Goatfish

Mullus auratus Jordan & Gilbert, 1882

Red Goatfish

Body moderately elongate, cylindrical; head profile steep, almost straight; space between eyes broad and flat; top jaw reaches under front edge of eye; with teeth on roof of mouth; no teeth in upper jaw; chin with a pair of large, long barbells that fold into a central groove on throat; no spine on opercle; first dorsal VIII (first spine very short), second dorsal I,8; pectoral 16-17;scales large, slightly rough, lateral line scales 34-37.

Reddish above, whitish below; body with a red-brown stripe from snout, through eye to the end of the tail base, plus 2-5 fainter yellow stripes; first dorsal with orange stripe at base, thicker & darker reddish brown stripe at tip; second dorsal with 4-5 narrow reddish stripes; tail reddish, lobes with indistinct crossbars.

Size: 27 cm.

Habitat: Found on mud or silty sand bottoms.

Depth: 10-110 m.

Nova Scotia to Guyana. Its Brazilian sister species is M. argentinae.