Goatsbeard brotula

About this species

Brotula multibarbata, commonly known as the goatbeard brotula, is a species of reef cusk eel in the family Ophidiidae. It is found throughout the Indo-Pacific region, typically at depths of around 300 meters.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Brotula multibarbata”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 54 records
February: 34 records
March: 21 records
April: 29 records
May: 64 records
June: 32 records
July: 31 records
August: 31 records
September: 58 records
October: 49 records
November: 58 records
December: 10 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 3–46 m · Deepest record: 305 m

0–10 m: 90 records
10–20 m: 86 records
20–30 m: 37 records
30–40 m: 7 records
40–50 m: 3 records
50–60 m: 1 records
60–70 m: 1 records
70–80 m: 2 records
80–90 m: 2 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 6 records
110+ m: 12 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 20–30 °C

18–20 °C: 1 records
20–22 °C: 12 records
22–24 °C: 27 records
24–26 °C: 69 records
26–28 °C: 163 records
28–30 °C: 141 records

Photos

(c) TANAKA Juuyoh (田中十洋), some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Ewout Knoester, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Daniel Benák, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Ewout Knoester, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Robin White, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Goatsbeard brotula, bearded brotula, Bearded Brotula, Goatsbeard brotula, Bearded Cusk, Bearded Cuskeel, Bearded Rockling, goatsbeard brotula, Pacific Bearded Brotula

Names in 4 more languages

Spanish: Brotula Barba de Carnero, brótula barba de carnero
French: Brotue barbue, brotule barbe-de-boue, Brotule barbe-de-boue, Mostelle tropicale, Mostelle tropicale
Japanese: Itachiuo, イタチウオ
Simplified Chinese: 多鬚鬚鼬鳚, 多鬚鯰, 多鬚鼬魚, 海鯰, 鼬魚

Other scientific names: Brotula borbonica, Brotula burbonensis, Brotula ensiformis, Brotula ferruginosus, Brotula formosae, Brotula japonica, Brotula jayakari, Brotula marginalis, Brotula muelleri, Brotula multicirrata, Brotula palmietensis

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
785 open-data records from 1846 to 2025.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.