Description

The striped red mullet is mainly found on soft seabeds. It can be seen from afar from the cloud of sediments that it raises by its tactile barbels. These enable it to dig around in the sediment to find its prey: worms, custracea, molluscs, etc. It generally measures between 15 to 25 cm but can grow as much as 40 cm and weigh up to 1 kg

Scientific names

Mullus surmuletus

Natural habitats

• Rocky seabeds
• Neptune grass meadows
• Soft seabeds

Did you know?

Its close cousin the red mullet (Mullus barbatus)looks very similar but you can tell the difference by its vertical forehead and its first dorsal fin that colourless.

Conservation stakes

Low

Threats

• Overfishing
• Changes to its environment
• Pollution

How can I help to protect it?

• I comply to fishing regulations in force
• I use environment-friendly mooring techniques to limit the impact of anchoring on Neptune grass meadows and coralligenous structures.
• In the case of anchoring out at sea, I only anchor in areas where marine habitats are not fragile and raise the anchor vertically
• I report any unusual environment incident
• I recover waste and dispose of it in suitable bins on land
• I share this best practice with other seafarers and raise their awareness.