Freckled Goatfish

Upeneus tragula is a species of goatfishes native to the Indian and Pacific oceans.

Description

All fins are with red, brown or black stripes, bars or blotches; 7–19 oblique bars on caudal fin, 3-9 bars on upper lobe, 4-10 on lower lobe. First dorsal fin is with a large blotch around tip. One red, brown or black mid-lateral body stripe is from tip of snout through eye to caudal base. Body and head ground colour are white or beige, slightly darker above lateral line, with irregular red, brown or black spots and/or blotches. Barbels are yellow, but may be pale brown or orange. Dorsal spines (total): 8; Dorsal soft rays (total): 9; Anal spines: 1; Anal soft rays: 6. This species is distinguished by the following characters: D VIII + 9; pectoral fins 12-14; gill rakers 4-7 + 15-19 = 20-25; lateral line scales 28-31; the following measurements are in %SL- body depth at first dorsal fin origin 21-28 and at anus 18-24; caudal-peduncle depth 9.5-12, width 3.1-4.9L; maximum head depth 18-24; head depth through eye 14-20; head length 26-32; postorbital length 9.9–13; orbit length 5.3-8.9; upper jaw length 9.8-14; barbel length 13-21; caudal-peduncle length 22-27, caudal-fin length 29-34; anal-fin height 16-20; pelvic-fin length 19-24; pectoral-fin length 17-22, width 3.5-5.3; first dorsal-fin height 20-25; second dorsal-fin height 17-21; postorbital length 1.4–2.0 times in anal-fin height.

Distribution

Eastern Indian Ocean to Western Pacific: from Andaman Islands to E Australia and to Japan and New Caledonia.

Habitat

Known to enter lower reaches of rivers. Usually found on sandy bottoms in nearshore areas; usually solitary. Forms small to moderately large aggregations at all sizes. Migrating within oceans typically between spawning and different feeding areas, as tunas do. Migrations should be cyclical and predictable and cover more than 100 km. Present in seagrass beds at juvenile stage.