Editing Goatfish (section)

{{Short description|Family of ray-finned fishes}}
{{For|the mythological creature|sea goat}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = Mulloidichthys vanicolensis, Jemeluk Wall, Amed, Bali, Indonesia imported from iNaturalist photo 429994681.jpg
| image_caption = [[Yellowfin goatfish]]
| taxon = Mullidae
| authority = [[Constantine Samuel Rafinesque|Rafinesque]], 1815<ref name = VDLEF>{{cite journal | author1 = Richard van der Laan | author2 = William N. Eschmeyer | author3 = Ronald Fricke | name-list-style = amp |year=2014 | title = Family-group names of Recent fishes | url = https://biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.3882.1.1/10480 | journal = Zootaxa | volume = 3882 | issue =2 | pages = 001–230| doi = 10.11646/zootaxa.3882.1.1 | pmid = 25543675 | doi-access = free }}</ref>
| subdivision_ranks = Genera
| subdivision = see text
}}

The '''goatfishes''' are [[ray-finned fish]] of the family '''Mullidae''', the only family in the suborder '''Mulloidei''' of the order [[Syngnathiformes]].<ref name="ECoF">{{cite journal |title=Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes Classification - California Academy of Sciences |website=www.calacademy.org |url=https://www.calacademy.org/scientists/catalog-of-fishes-classification/ |access-date=23 November 2024 |language=en}}</ref> The family is also sometimes referred to as the [[red mullet]]s, which also refers more narrowly to the genus ''[[Mullus]]''.<ref name="oed"/>

The family name and the English common name mullet derived from Latin ''mullus'', the [[red mullet]]; other than the red mullet and the [[striped red mullet]] or surmullet, the English word "mullet" generally refers to a different family of fish, the [[Mugilidae]] or gray mullets.<ref name="oed">''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'', [http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/123486 ''s.v.'' 'mullet']</ref>