Marine life  /  Goatfish
8 of 1316 species
Group

Goatfish

Named for a pair of chin barbels they use to taste the sand while probing it. A goatfish working a sand patch is normally followed by wrasses and small snappers taking what it turns up.

Species
8
Depth
1–45 m
Rarity range
1 star of 5, found on most divesto 2 stars of 5, usually seen in a week
Night only
None
Can hurt a diver
None
Destinations
11

They change colour markedly between feeding and resting, which is why a red fish on the sand and a pale one in a school above it can be the same species. Resting schools hang above sand and do nothing for hours.

The barbels are folded away under the chin when not in use, so a resting goatfish does not obviously have them.

8 species

Photographed first, then commonest

8 written up, none photographed yet

Every one has a page. They are shown as a list rather than as pictures because nothing has been photographed or logged for them yet, and a species with nothing behind it should not sit in front of one that has.

Where they are recorded

How many of the 8 carry a record at each destination. A species usually carries several, so these do not add up to 8.

Lembeh Strait 4 Anilao 4 Dauin & Dumaguete 4 Bali 4 Papua New Guinea 3 Florida 2 Bahamas 2 Cayman Islands 2 Ambon 1 Islas Revillagigedo 1 Red Sea 1

The other groups

Anemonefish 11 Angelfish 25 Batfish 3 Blennies 26 Butterflyfish 35 Cardinalfish 13 Damselfish 32 Dottybacks 5 Dragonets 5 Eels & garden eels 18 Flatfish 8 Frogfish & anglers 26 Gobies & dartfish 29 Groupers & anthias 42 Hawkfish 5 Jacks & open-water fish 29 Jawfish 4 Lizardfish & flatheads 10 Morays 26 Morwongs & trumpeters 4 Parrotfish 16 Pufferfish & boxfish 23 Rabbitfish 5 Scorpionfish & lionfish 47 Seahorses & pipefish 53 Shrimpgobies 17 Snappers, breams & sweetlips 39 Squirrelfish & soldierfish 9 Surgeonfish & unicornfish 26 Triggerfish & filefish 25 Trumpetfish & cornetfish 4 Wrasses 56 Other fish 46 Sharks & rays 63 Turtles, sea snakes & crocodiles 11 Marine mammals & birds 10 Cephalopods 36 Nudibranchs & sea slugs 137 Sea snails & shells 26 Shrimps 38 Mantis shrimps 5 Crabs 45 Hermit crabs 10 Lobsters & squat lobsters 13 Isopods & parasitic crustaceans 5 Amphipods 2 Sea stars 18 Brittle stars & basket stars 7 Feather stars 2 Sea urchins 23 Sea cucumbers 12 Worms 11 Flatworms 3 Jellyfish & stinging drifters 10 Anemones & zoanthids 12 Corals & sponges 29 Sea squirts 4 Blackwater & plankton 52 Other invertebrates 2

All 1316 species in one index, with filters for destination, rarity and hazard.

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