Pinkeye mullet
Trachystoma petardi
Illustration: Bloom by Day
A deep-bodied dusky green-brown mullet with a small mouth, a small eye and pale straw fins. It runs well up into fresh water and is most often seen as a shape moving over the bottom of a river pool.
how to recognise it
- a stout deep body with a SMALL mouth and a SMALL eye
- dusky greenish-brown above, silvery below
- pale yellowish fins
don’t confuse with
- Diamondscale mullet — the diamondscale mullet has a chequerboard of dark scale edges and a yellow square-cut tail
Field marks read from Fishes of Australia, 2026-10-15. Our wording, their facts. Max size 80 cm SL.
facts
- habitat
- estuary
- size
- ~40 cm, to 80 cm
Max size from Fishes of Australia (80 cm SL); the typical size is Bluebird’s, not from a cited source
- records near here
- 13 at 1 of 6 spots
A count of occurrence records near these spots, not abundance. Records are where someone looked.
when it has been recorded
JFMAMJJASOND
A gap means no record in the sample, not absence.
the rule
QLD — Min: 30cm · Limit: 20
source
· verified 2026-10-10
no NSW rule listed — check before you dive
no closed season recorded for this species — that is not the same as open; check the official page
Rules checked 2026-10-13 against qld.gov.au
Rules change. Check before you dive.
Occurrence data: Atlas of Living Australia (ala.org.au), CC-BY 4.0.
Diver transect counts: Reef Life Survey (reeflifesurvey.com), CC-BY 4.0, supplied via ALA.
Target and protected species: Queensland tidal-water size and possession limits (qld.gov.au) and NSW saltwater bag and size limits plus threatened species lists (dpird.nsw.gov.au).
Habitat and size: Bluebird, approximate, from general knowledge. Not cited. FishBase is CC BY-NC and this app is commercial, so it is not used.
Description written for Bloom. RECORDS ARE WHERE SOMEONE LOOKED, NOT WHERE THE FISH ARE. A record count is a count of records near here and nothing else -- it is not abundance, and a species with few records is not rare. Absence of records is not absence of fish.
Diver transect counts: Reef Life Survey (reeflifesurvey.com), CC-BY 4.0, supplied via ALA.
Target and protected species: Queensland tidal-water size and possession limits (qld.gov.au) and NSW saltwater bag and size limits plus threatened species lists (dpird.nsw.gov.au).
Habitat and size: Bluebird, approximate, from general knowledge. Not cited. FishBase is CC BY-NC and this app is commercial, so it is not used.
Description written for Bloom. RECORDS ARE WHERE SOMEONE LOOKED, NOT WHERE THE FISH ARE. A record count is a count of records near here and nothing else -- it is not abundance, and a species with few records is not rare. Absence of records is not absence of fish.