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ID Please - Fish, off Dorset coast UK, April 2010 (1 Viewer)

pdh

Well-known member
Could someone give me an ID on these?
They were milling about at the base of a cliff at Old Harry nr Studland
When I saw them I thought "tope" but I have no idea why; I generally don't have anything to do with fish unless they're wrapped in batter
 

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Could someone give me an ID on these?
They were milling about at the base of a cliff at Old Harry nr Studland
When I saw them I thought "tope" but I have no idea why; I generally don't have anything to do with fish unless they're wrapped in batter


Look like Grey Mullet to me mate.

Karpman
 
haha yeah maybe rumbled some dudes secret fishing patch, Good mullet fishing is to be savored for sure!B :)

Karpman

P.s Mind it don't exist round here us midlanders have to make do with smelly carp and such:(


Maybe it's just me, but when I tried Grey Mullet it was fairly horrible.

Red Mullet, on the other hand...
 
Maybe it's just me, but when I tried Grey Mullet it was fairly horrible.

Red Mullet, on the other hand...

They seem to have a habit of hanging around eating chips and swigging diesel, Sea bass for me all the way or monk fish!
Never eaten carp don't think ill bother either:-O:t:

karpman
 
I've eaten both and I like both, but I think Red better.
now -- @Barred Wobbler can you explain a bit more?
 
I've eaten both and I like both, but I think Red better.
now -- @Barred Wobbler can you explain a bit more?

It's a bit like hedge sparrows (as we used to know them) not being sparrows and bearded tits not being tits.

Our grey mullets (thin-lipped and thick-lipped) are of the mullet family (mugilidae) that includes many other species also, and they all have that typical "mullet" look, 7 species in the North Atlantic and Mediterranean. The pic below shows yet another relation, some fringelip mullet in the Red sea, superficially like grey mullet. (I don't have any of "our mullet" to hand).

The red mullet belongs to the family Mullidae (goatfish) and they are a quite different shape and have a pair of prehensile barbels beneath the chin that they use to probe in the seabed for food. Again, I don't have a photo of red mullet, but I do have some of goatfish in the Red Sea (pics 2&3, Red Sea Goatfish & Yellow-saddled Goatfish) and if you've seen red mullet on a fishmonger's slab you'll see the resemblance, completely different shape to true mullets, particularly in the head and different fin layout.
 

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Weymouth Harbour is a good place to see them. As "Seafish", they enjoy swimming into brackish, and even riverine waters. Often observed at Radipole. Grey Mullet.
 
thanks all.
it's odd, I spend most of my leisure time walking coastal edges in Dorset and Cornwall, and before these, I can't remember the last time (in 10 or 20 years I mean) that I saw a live fish ...
 
haha yeah maybe rumbled some dudes secret fishing patch, Good mullet fishing is to be savored for sure!B :)

Karpman

P.s Mind it don't exist round here us midlanders have to make do with smelly carp and such:(

christ church harbour,(definitely don't try catching them in the royalty human lives aren't long enough) but once you can see em you aint gonna catch em, then again if you can't see em you aint gonna catch em most of the time either.
 
christ church harbour,(definitely don't try catching them in the royalty human lives aren't long enough) but once you can see em you aint gonna catch em, then again if you can't see em you aint gonna catch em most of the time either.

And if you do hook one don't worry about landing it. Their mouths are so soft that any hook will just pull out with the slightest pressure on the rod.
 
christ church harbour,(definitely don't try catching them in the royalty human lives aren't long enough) but once you can see em you aint gonna catch em, then again if you can't see em you aint gonna catch em most of the time either.

LOL, Padstow harbour, Caught a few there on light coarse gear not for eating though!
Unless you like the taste of diesel.

Karpman
 
LOL, Padstow harbour, Caught a few there on light coarse gear not for eating though!
Unless you like the taste of diesel.

Karpman

(Adopting best Homer Simpson voice) Mmmmm, diesel....

But in my admittedly very limited experience the problem with Grey Mullet was that it had all the taste and consistency of wet kitchen roll.

Maybe I just got a badly cooked one.
 
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