Taxonomic Notes
This assessment includes M. b. barbatus and M. b. ponticus.
Justification
Mullus barbatus is widespread and common in the Mediterranean and Black seas. It is commercially fished and landings have been relatively stable, following a decline that occurred from 1989 until 2004. Therefore this species is listed as Least Concern.
Geographic Range Information
Mullus barbatus is an eastern Atlantic species, recorded from the British Isles (occasionally Scandinavia) to Senegal, including Azores, the Canary Islands, the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea. It is also present around the Azores (Hureau 1986).
In the Mediterranean Sea, M. barbatus has been reported from the Alboran Sea (Molinari et al. 2004), Iberian waters (Martin et al. 1999, Coll et al. 2006, Garcia-Rodriguez et al. 2006, Valle et al. 2006, FAO-GFCM 2007, Lloret et al. 2007), the Gulf of Lions (Gaertner et al. 1998, Letourneur et al. 2001, Carlier et al. 2007), the Ligurian Sea (Abella et al. 1999, Fabi et al. 2002, Pietrapiana et al. 2002, Romanelli et al. 2002, Molinari and Tunesi 2003, Molinari 2005, Tunesi and Molinari 2005, Tunesi et al. 2005), the Tyrrhenian Sea (Abella et al. 1999; La Mesa and Vacchi 1999; Martin et al. 1999; Badalamenti et al. 2002; IREPA 2003; Colloca et al. 2003, 2004; Carpentieri et al. 2005; FAO-GFCM 2007), the Strait of Sicily (Levi et al. 2003, Gristina et al. 2006), Maltese waters (FAO-GFCM 2007), the Adriatic Sea (Fabi et al. 2002, Dulcic and Glamuzina 2006, Perugini et al. 2007), the eastern Ionian Sea (Mytilineou et al. 2005, Maravelias and Papaconstantinou 2006), the Cretan Sea (Kallianiotis et al. 2000, Machias and Labropoulou 2002), the Aegean Sea (Petrakis and Stergiou 1996, Karpouzi and Stergiuo 2003, Kallianiotis et al. 2004, Machias et al. 2004, Moutopoulos and Stergiou 2004, Ozbilgin et al. 2004, Stergiou et al. 2004, Tokac et al. 2004, Akin et al. 2005, Celik and Ohelenshlager 2005, Labropoulou and Papaconstantinou 2005, Karakulak et al. 2006, Maravelias and Papaconstantinou 2006, Maravelias et al. 2006, Turan 2006, FAO-GFCM 2007, Gokce and Metin 2007, Ozaydin et al. 2007), the Sea of Marmara (Yuksek et al. 2006), the Israeli coast (Goren and Galil 2005), and Egyptian waters (Abdallah 2002).
The subspecies M. b. pontica is restricted to the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov only.
Population Information
This species is very common in the Mediterranean and especially in the Black Sea.
Maravelias and Papaconstantinou (2006) reported the species as distributed in shallow water depths (< 100 m) throughout the Greek seas, particularly in the northern part of the Aegean Sea. Its abundance steadily decreased with increasing depth.
Ozbilgin et al. (2004) collected 110,891 specimens, with length varying from 5.0 to 23.0 cm TL, during 2002 in monthly intervals at Izmir Bay, by using a conventional bottom trawl. Depth range of the fishing ground was 25 to 30 m.
Badalamenti et al. (2002) carried out a study in the Gulf of Castellammare (southern Tyrrhenian Sea), where most trawling was banned from 1989 onwards, in order to compare abundance data from spring trawl surveys before (1987 and 1989) and after (1994 and 1998) the trawling ban. Mean abundance data (number of specimens per haul, number of hauls = 10) was 3.2 in 1984, 6.9 in 1988, 368.1 in 1994 and 393.5 in 1998.
Maravelias et al. (2006) conducted a study in the northern Aegean Sea highlighting that mean red mullet abundance was consistently highest in areas with warmer bottom waters in the east and west than in the centre, these areas having shallower depths (35 to 60m) and bottom temperatures around 19°C. The red mullet appeared to avoid the cold bottom waters (<16°C).
Gristina et al. (2006) sampled this species during two trawl surveys (in autumn 1997 and 1998) carried out in the Strait of Sicily using an otter trawl. From a total of 62 hauls, mean density value varied from 1 to 407 specimens per km².
Carpentieri et al. (2005) sampled this species during four seasonal 24 hr surveys conducted in July 2001 (292 individuals per 24 hrs), November 2001 (532 individuals per 24 hrs), March 2002 (888 individuals per 24 hrs) and May 2002 (334 individuals per 24 hrs), in the shelf break off the central Tyrrhenian Sea.
Metin et al. (2004) collected 1,275 specimens in the central area of Izmir Bay between 1 and 7 September 2001 at a depth of 30m using a conventional commercial bottom trawl.
Fabi et al. (2002) carried out a study in two areas (Ancona - Adriatic Sea, and Leghorn - Ligurian Sea), with fixed nets and a bottom trawl. In the Adriatic Sea 8,275 specimens were collected with trawl and 504 with fixed nets, while in the Ligurian Sea 13,648 specimens were collected with trawl and 581 with fixed nets.
Petrakis and Stergiou (1996) collected 1,134 specimens per 1,000 fathoms in 15 stations in the South Euboikos Gulf (Aegean Sea) in 1992 and 1993.
Ozaydin et al. (2007) collected 1,910 specimens from Izmir Bay (central Aegean Sea) between February and December 2005 using bottom trawls, with TL ranging from 5.4 and 21.2 cm.
Karakulak et al. (2006) collected 141 specimens, with length varying from 12.5 to 22.3 cm TL, from a survey conducted for selectivity by gill and trammel nets in the coastal waters of Turkey from March 2004 to February 2005.
Moutopoulos and Stergiou (2004) obtained 15 specimens seasonally during experimental fishing trials conducted with gill nets and long-lines during 1997 to 1998 in the Aegean Sea (Cyclades).
Karpouzi and Stergiou (2003) collected 127 specimens, with length varying from 15.0 to 22.5 cm TL, from October 1997 to September 2000, with a small fishing vessel, in the waters off Naxos Island (Cyclades, Aegean Sea, eastern Mediterranean). Using gillnets (Oct. 1997 to Oct. 1998) and trammel nets (Oct. 1999 to Sept. 2000). Fishing took place at depths ranging from 4 to 90m.
Dulcic and Glamuzina (2006) collected 277 specimens, with length varying from 9.1 to 24.1 cm TL, from three eastern Adriatic estuarine systems using various fishing gear (beach seine, fyke-net, gill nets, fish traps), between October 1998 and December 2003.
The Barcelona fleet landed 1,3042 kg of this species in 2005 (FAO-GFCM 2007). This report highlights higher yields in the period 2001 and 2005 in the Tyrrhenian Sea, and provides data of monthly landing data from Maltese waters, with higher landings data in July and August (200 and 384 kg, respectively)
Gokce and Metin (2007) collected 177 specimens using three artisanal fishing boats comprising 39 fishing operations. The trials took place between May and October 2003 in Izmir Bay, Turkey.
Abdullah (2002) collected 512 specimens, with length varying from 3.6 to 15.7 cm TL, after eighteen cruises conducted in the Egyptian Mediterranean waters using a commercial bottom trawler during the period January to December 1998. Fishing was carried out at depths of 30 to 200m.
Valle et al. (2003) collected 60 specimens (7.4 to 12.4 cm TL) in November 1995 at six locations along the east coast of Spain (Tabarca, Santa Pola, Postiguet, San Juan, Campello and Villajoyosa), after 108 samples taken up to a 20 to 22m depth, using a beam trawl.
Tokac et al. (2004) collected 27,807 specimens through a series of experimental trawl surveys, between 4 February and 22 March 2002 in Izmir Bay, at depth 25 to 30m.
Machias and Labropoulou (2002) collected 1,237 specimens (5.5 to 28.5 cm TL) during three years of experimental bottom trawl sampling on the Cretan Shelf from August 1988 to April 1991.
IREPA (2003) recorded mean abundances of 49.86, 351.25, and 23.00 individuals per hour, respectively in 1996, 1997 and 1998 during the GRUND survey campaigns in the Gulf of Salerno.
Stergiou et al. (2004) collected 1,035 specimens (10.7 to 23.1 cm TL) using various fishing gears (trawls, trammel nets, gill nets) in Cyclades (Aegean Sea) during 1995 to 2000.
Lloret et al. (2007) captured 99 specimens (13 to 22.5 cm TL) in May to June 2004 on the muddy bottoms of three areas of the Catalan Sea's continental shelf (Blanes, Ebre, Valencia), by mean of commercial trawlers at depths from 61 to 133m.
Habitat and Ecology Information
This is a demersal species, found on gravel, sand and mud substrata of the continental shelf at depths of 10 to 300 m (Ben-Tuvia 1990). It occurs down to depths of 328 m in the eastern Ionian Sea (Mytilineou et al. 2005). It feeds on small benthic crustaceans, worms and molluscs (Hureau 1986).
The average size of marketed individuals has been reduced to approximately the minimum legal length in Turkey.
Threats Information
This is a commercial species. M. barbatus can be caught by means of trawlers and fixed net and is marketed mainly fresh (Frimodt 1995).
M. barbatus and Mullus surmuletus annual landings (tonnes) in the Mediterranean between 1996 and 2005 (obtained from the FAO FISHSTAT Fisheries Statistical Database 2007) were: 5,331 (1996), 4,531 (1997), 4,878 (1998), 5,618 (1999), 4,433 (2000), 5,667 (2001), 5,159 (2002), 5,391 (2003), 5,149 (2004), 15,289 (2005). The increase in landings in 2005 is due to Italian landings figures being included for the first time that year.
FAO landings figures are available from seven countries, although Turkish landings dominate the total landings. Following an apparent decline that begin in 1989 and continued until 2004, catches have stabilised at around 5,000 to 6,000 tonnes.
Use and Trade Information
This is a commercial species and is marketed mainly fresh (Frimodt 1995).
Conservation Actions Information
In Turkey, minimum size limitations are in place: 13 cm for commercial landings, and for sport fishing 13 cm and a maximum of 5 kg per person per day.
