Characteristics

The red mullet is a rather small fish that reaches a maximum length of about 30 cm but is more frequently found between 10 and 20 cm. The minimum length for marketing, set by the European Community Regulation 1967/2006, is 11 cm. The body is pink-silver. The dorsal profile is arched, while the ventral one is flat to be able to rest on the seabed. The head is large and short, with two very protruding round eyes. Below the mouth are two tactile “barbs” that are covered in sensors and help the mullet to probe the seabed to get the prey it eats: crustaceans, small fish, echinoderms and molluscs. The female is usually larger than the male.

Habitat

The red mullet often lives in small shoals and populates the sandy, muddy and gravelly bottoms up to a depth of 300-500 metres while the young can be found in shallow waters. Its delicious meat makes it the favorite prey of professional fishermen, who use different techniques to capture it. The most widespread is certainly trawling, with appropriate nets; but the younger specimens, which are almost always stationed in the vicinity of the coast, are fished with the "sciabichello"(a small trawled net).

Sources:

http://www.chioggiapesca.it/it/?pesci=triglia-di-fango

https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mullus_barbatus_barbatus

http://www.aiamitalia.it/?option=com_schede&view=scheda&genere=mullus&specie=barbatus

http://www.pescaricreativa.org/notizie/articoli/item/215-misure-minime-pesca-in-mare.html