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Upeneus sulphureus Cuvier, 1829

Sulphur goatfish
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Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
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Upeneus sulphureus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Upeneus sulphureus (Sulphur goatfish)
Upeneus sulphureus
Picture by Allen, G.R.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Mulliformes (Goatfishes) > Mullidae (Goatfishes)
Etymology: Upeneus: Greek, ypene, -es = upper lip (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Cuvier.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; brackish; demersal; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 10 - 90 m (Ref. 12260), usually 20 - 60 m (Ref. 114285). Tropical; 36°N - 28°S, 33°E - 180°E

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Indo-West Pacific: East Africa to southeast Asia, north to China, south to northern Australia and Fiji (Ref. 12743).

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 9.9, range 9 - 10.3 cm
Max length : 23.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 30573); common length : 20.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5450)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 8; Dorsal soft rays (total): 9; Anal spines: 1; Anal soft rays: 7. This species is distinguished by the following characters: D VIII,9; pectoral fins 15-16; gill rakers 7-8 + 19-21 = 27-28; lateral line scales 34-37; body depth at first dorsal-fin origin 29-33% SL and at anus 25-27% SL; caudal-peduncle depth 11-12% SL; maximum head depth 23-25% SL; head depth through eye 18-20% SL; head length 29-30%SL; orbit length 7.4-8.7% SL; upper jaw length 11-13% SL; barbel length 17-21% SL; caudal-fin length 27-30% SL; anal-fin height 16-18% SL; pelvic-fin length 20-22% SL; pectoral-fin length 24-26% SL; first dorsal-fin height 23-26% SL; second dorsal-fin height 17-18% SL; no bars on caudal-fin lobes; yellowish lower lobe base, grey on upper lobe (some of the caudal-fin lobe pigmentation retained when preserved, including inner margin of fin lobes); 2 yellow body stripes, 1 mid-lateral body from operculum to caudal-fin base (both faintly retained in preserved fish); white barbels; body dorsally pale brown and ventrally white (pale brown with some reddish or darker brown area at mid-body in preserved fish) (Ref. 82903).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Found in coastal waters, entering estuaries (Ref. 30573). Sandy-muddy bottom (Ref. 43239). Forms schools (Ref. 5213). Has appearance of sillaginids when schooling (Ref. 48636).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Randall, John E. | Collaborators

Kumaran, M. and J.E. Randall, 1984. Mullidae. In W. Fischer and G. Bianchi (eds.) FAO species identification sheets for fishery purposes. Western Indian Ocean fishing area 51. Vol. 3. (Ref. 3470)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 11 March 2015

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial; aquarium: commercial
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource | Sea Around Us

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet compositions
Food consumptions
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturities
Fecundities
Spawnings
Spawning aggregations
Egg(s)
Egg developments
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
Gill areas
Brains
Otoliths
Physiology
Body compositions
Nutrients
Oxygen consumptions
Swimming type
Swimming speeds
Visual pigment(s)
Fish sounds
Diseases / Parasites
Toxicities (LC50s)
Genetics
Genetics
Electrophoreses
Heritabilities
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
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References
References

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 24.3 - 29.1, mean 28 °C (based on 1552 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01047 (0.00881 - 0.01244), b=3.10 (3.07 - 3.13), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.1   ±0.1 se; based on diet studies.
Generation time: 1.1 (0.9 - 1.4) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 22 growth studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.5-1.3; tmax=4.6).
Prior r = 0.52, 95% CL = 0.35 - 0.79, Based on 1 data-limited stock assessment.
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low vulnerability (15 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   High.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 233 [126, 477] mg/100g; Iron = 1.33 [0.62, 2.35] mg/100g; Protein = 17.4 [15.4, 19.7] %; Omega3 = 0.302 [0.178, 0.562] g/100g; Selenium = 58.1 [32.3, 117.3] μg/100g; VitaminA = 17.5 [6.6, 50.9] μg/100g; Zinc = 1.66 [1.06, 2.32] mg/100g (wet weight);