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vol-3SOME BIOLOGICAL STUDIES ON THE GOATFISH
(MULLUS SURMULETUS L.) IN THE EGYPTIAN
MEDITERRANEAN WATERS
By
Dr. M.T. HASREM
(Inst. Ocean. and Fish., Alex., A.R.E.
INTRODUCTION
The Goatfishes are littoral marine fishes of warm seas. As demersal
fishes, they are widely caught hy trawlers. In the last few years these
fishes constituted a considerable part of the commercial catch of A.R.E.
Inspite of the decrease of the fishing area during the Middle-East conflict,
the average annual catch of Mullidae has increased from 904 tons in 1962-
1964 to 1354 tons in 1965-1970 (Egyptian Fishery Statistics, 1962-1970).
This indicates that the regalation of the Nile flood seems to he in favour
of these fishes.
Unfortunately, the catch of Mullidae from the Egyptian Mediterranean waters is not differentiated into fish species. But, generally speaking, the Red mullet (Mullus barbatus L.) is the mo t common, while the
Striped mullet (Mullus surmuletus L.) occupies the second position in the
catch of this Family. However little knowledge is availahle about the
biology of this latter species, although the biology of ilie first one has
been studied in many areas. So, the present study on the age, growth
and maturity of M. surmnletus will add some information to the biology
of that species. In addition, it is hoped that this information will be
of interest and use in managing the trawl fisheries of the Mediterranean.
