''Kuhlia mugil'', the barred flagtail, the fiveband flagtail or the five-bar flagtail, is a species of marine

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or h ...

, a

flagtail The flagtails (' or ' in the Hawaiian language) are a family (Kuhliidae) of perciform fish of the Indo-Pacific area. The family consists of several species in one genus, ''Kuhlia''. Most are euryhaline and often found in brackish water, but th ...

belonging to the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Kuhliidae. It is found in the Indo-Pacific region.

Description

''Kuhlia mugil'' has a compressed body which is shaped like an elongated oval with a large eye and an oblique mouth which has a projecting lower jaw. It is covered with moderately large

ctenoid A fish scale is a small rigid plate that grows out of the skin of a fish. The skin of most jawed fishes is covered with these protective scales, which can also provide effective camouflage through the use of reflection and colouration, as ...

scales. It is normally silver in colour, although the upper flanks sometimes show a bluish, brownish or yellowish tinge. The

caudal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as ...

has a pattern of five dark bars alternating with paler areas. There is a dusky band along the margin of the soft rayed portion of the

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through c ...

except for a white tip on highest anterior part. The tip of the snout and the tip of the chain are blackish. The dorsal fin is deeply notched. There are 10 spines and 10-11 soft rays in the dorsal fin with 3 spines and 10-12 soft rays in the anal fin. It can attain a standard length of .

Distribution

''Kuhlia mugil'' has a widespread distribution which encompasses the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. It is found from the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...

and the east African coast east through the Indo-Pacific to the eastern Pacific islands of Clipperton, Cocos and Revillagigedo. The range extends north to southern Japan, and south to Australia. In Australia the range extends from the

Torres Strait The Torres Strait (), also known as Zenadh Kes, is a strait between Australia and the Melanesian island of New Guinea. It is wide at its narrowest extent. To the south is Cape York Peninsula, the northernmost extremity of the Australian mai ...

to Seal Rocks, New South Wales as well as

Lord Howe Island Lord Howe Island (; formerly Lord Howe's Island) is an irregularly crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, part of the Australian state of New South Wales. It lies directly east of mainland P ...

and Norfolk Island in the

Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea ( Māori: ''Te Tai-o-Rēhua'', ) is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about across and about from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer ...

and the

Cocos (Keeling) Islands ) , anthem = "''Advance Australia Fair''" , song_type = , song = , image_map = Australia on the globe (Cocos (Keeling) Islands special) (Southeast Asia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands , map_caption = ...

and

Christmas Island Christmas Island, officially the Territory of Christmas Island, is an Australian external territory comprising the island of the same name. It is located in the Indian Ocean, around south of Java and Sumatra and around north-west of the ...

in the Indian Ocean. In the eastern Pacific they are found at the tip of

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

and along the coast from Costa Rica to Colombia. The species is absent from the

Marquesas The Marquesas Islands (; french: Îles Marquises or ' or '; Marquesan: ' (North Marquesan) and ' (South Marquesan), both meaning "the land of men") are a group of volcanic islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in t ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

and

Easter Island Easter Island ( rap, Rapa Nui; es, Isla de Pascua) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is most famous for its ne ...

, Pitcairn Island, and

Johnston Island Johnston Atoll is an unincorporated territory of the United States, currently administered by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Johnston Atoll is a National Wildlife Refuge and part of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine Natio ...

Habitat and biology

This species occurs on

reefs A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic processes—deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock out ...

at depths of , where they form tightly packed schools. Young fish can also be found in

tide pools A tide pool or rock pool is a shallow pool of seawater that forms on the rocky intertidal shore. Many of these pools exist as separate bodies of water only at low tide. Many tide pool habitats are home to especially adaptable animals that ...

. This species has also been reported occasionally from

estuaries An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environmen ...

but never from fresh waters. It is a nocturnal forager, preying mainly on

zooplankton Zooplankton are the animal component of the planktonic community ("zoo" comes from the Greek word for ''animal''). Plankton are aquatic organisms that are unable to swim effectively against currents, and consequently drift or are carried along by ...

and small fishes.

Usage

''Kuhlia mugil'' is caught for food, bait, and the aquarium trade. Fishermen use seines, gill nets and hook and line to catch them. It is sold fresh or preserved by drying and salting.

References

Bibliography

* Randall, J.E. and H.A. Randall (2001) Review of the fishes of the genus Kuhlia (Perciformes: Kuhliidae) of the Central Pacific., Pac. Sci. 55(3):227-256. * Randall, J.E. (1995) Coastal fishes of Oman., University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, Hawaii. 439 p. * Talwar, P.K. and A.G. Jhingran (1991) Inland fishes of India and adjacent countries. Volume 2., A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam. * Eschmeyer, W.N. (ed.) (2005) Catalog of fishes * Maugé, L.A. (1986) Kuhliidae., p. 306-307. In J. Daget, J.-P. Gosse and D.F.E. Thys van den Audenaerde (eds.) Check-list of the freshwater fishes of Africa (CLOFFA). ISNB, Bruxelles, MRAC, Tervuren; and ORSTOM, Paris. Vol. 2.

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* Bisby F.A., Roskov Y.R., Orrell T.M., Nicolson D., Paglinawan L.E., Bailly N., Kirk P.M., Bourgoin T., Baillargeon G., Ouvrard D. (red.) (2011)
Catalogue of Life
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuhlia Mugil Kuhlia Taxa named by Johann Reinhold Forster Fish described in 1801