Fish
Bluetail Mullet
Moolgarda buchanani
A large mullet of KZN estuaries and surf zones, silvery with a distinctive bluish tinge to the tail.
Also known as diamondscale mullet, mullet(bluetail)
- Typical size
- Commonly 30-60 cm
- Habitat
- Estuaries, harbours and shallow coastal sand flats
- Depth
- Surface to a few metres
The bluetail mullet is one of the bigger mullets found along the KwaZulu-Natal coast, running into estuaries, harbours and the shallow surf. It is streamlined and silver with the faint blue wash across the caudal fin that gives it its name, and it feeds by grazing detritus, algae and micro-organisms from soft bottoms.
Spearos and shore anglers encounter it in schools over sand and mud in warm, often turbid water. Like most mullet it is skittish and hard to approach, and it is valued more as bait and light table fish than as a target. Handle carefully as the flesh spoils quickly in warm conditions.