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MULLET
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MULLET , the name of two different kinds of fishes, distinguished as red mullets and See also:grey mullets. Red mullets (genus Mullus, the name given by the See also:ancient See also:Romans) are marine fishes, with two See also:short dorsal fins remote from each other: the first is composed of feeble spines, the second of branched rays; the anal fin is similar to the second dorsal. The See also:body is covered with large thin scales. The See also:form of the See also:head is See also:peculiar; its anterior See also:profile slopes downwards to the small mouth, which has very small and feeble See also:teeth, and from which two cylindrical barbels are suspended. These See also:organs of See also:touch are generally laid backwards and hidden in a groove between the branches of the See also:lower See also:jaw, but can be erected and called into See also:action independently. About See also:forty different See also:species of red mullets are known, chiefly from the tropical and sub-tropical parts of the Indo-Pacific ocean. In See also:European See also:waters two forms are known which have received different specific names, Mullus surmuletus and Mullus barbatus. The former in addition to the See also:general red See also:colour has three to five See also:bright yellow bands along the sides from head to tail; these are absent in the other form. It has been proved that this is not a sexual difference, the two forms are varieties or species. The striped form is usually found on the coasts of See also:England, where the See also:plain form is rare or absent. In the Mediterranean both kinds occur, but it is probable that the striped form, which is larger, is more See also:common in the See also:Atlantic and the plain form in Mediterranean and See also:southern waters. Red mullets do not attain any considerable See also:size, the largest of the tropical species weighing only two or three pounds. They are ground-feeders, evidently using their barbels in discovering their See also:food, which consists of See also:crustacea, See also:worms, and, in the larger species, of small fishes; that they feed on putrid flesh is not See also:borne out by the See also:evidence See also:drawn from their feeble jaws and dentition, but it is probable that they are attracted to a decomposing body by the presence of the small crustaceans which feast upon it. Although the See also:colours of these fishes are brilliant, they are See also:simple and evanescent; only a few of the tropical species exhibit ornamentations in the form of See also:black spots or bands. In many, as also in the European species, red colour prevails, and its preservation after See also:death is considered to enhance the fitness of the See also:fish for the table, and consequently its See also:market value. To produce the intensity of this red colour, fishermen See also:scale the red mullet immediately before its death, a See also:process by which the red pigment cells or chromatophores are excited to expand; fishes which are allowed to See also:die in the See also:water show little red, and therefore red mullets caught by the trawl are less valuable than those obtained in a trammel-See also:net, by which the See also:majority are secured alive. All the species are esteemed as food; but none equals the European species, which was held in exaggerated esteem by the gourmands of See also:Rome. They exhibited the living fish and allowed them to die at the table immediately before they were consigned to the See also:cook; they kept them in large reservoirs until they were wanted, and paid fabulous prices for fishes somewhat above the See also:average size. Little is known about the habits of red mullets; during See also:winter they retire into deep water, See also:late in See also:spring and during summer they approach the coasts and enter even brackish water, but the See also:state of their sexual organs shows that they do not come towards the See also:shore to breed. At See also:Naples they spawn from May to See also:August, and their ova are buoyant and transparent. In See also:June, See also:July and August the See also:young are about an See also:inch See also:long, and already furnished with the two barbels. The grey mullets form a widely different and distinct See also:family, Mugilidae. They are not exclusively marine, but enter brackish water, live always See also:close to the shore, and some of the tropical forms inhabit the pure fresh water of streams and rivulets, without, however, penetrating far inland. Their body is elegantly formed, See also:wedge-shaped, and covered with scales ofmoderate size, firmly adherent to the skin. The two short dorsal fins are remote from each other, and the anterior is composed of four stiff spines. The anal fin is similar to the second dorsal; the caudal fin strong and bilobed. The form of the snout is peculiar; the mouth narrow, transverse in the true Mrlgil, and without, or with but feeble, teeth. About seventy different species are known, from almost every See also:coast of the temperate and tropical zones; they swim in small See also:schools and are abundant wherever they occur. Two species are found on the See also:British coasts—Mugil See also:capito and Mugil chelo, the first being the more common. Some of the fresh-water grey mullets of the tropics, especially those of the See also:West See also:Indian and Indo-Pacific islands, have the mouth more lateral or have distinct though See also:minute teeth; they therefore have been formed into See also:separate genera, Agonostoma and Myxus. Grey mullets, at least some of the species, grow to a See also:weight of ro or See also:r2 lb; but the fish which usually come into the market rarely exceed See also:half that weight. Those in which distinct teeth are See also:developed feed principally on small aquatic animals, whilst the See also:diet of those without teeth consists of animalcules or minute organic substances mixed with the mud or See also:sand which they See also:swallow in large quantities; also confervoid growths to which small shells adhere are freely taken. To prevent the gills from being clogged by sand or mud, a peculiar apparatus separates these organs from the pharynx. Each branchial See also:arch is provided on each See also:side, in its whole length, with a See also:series of closely-set gill-rakers, each series fitting into the series of the adjoining arch; they constitute together a See also:sieve permitting the passage of the water, while retaining other substances in the cavity destined for mastication. The structure of the intestinal See also:tract is also adapted to the diet of these fishes. One portion of the See also:stomach is globular and surrounded by a thick See also:mass of muscles, the cavity being small and coated with a tough epithelium. This structure reminds us of the stomach of birds, in which it also serves for the trituration of hard sub-stances. The See also:intestine itself is six or seven times as long as the fish. Grey mullets are plainly coloured, generally greenish on the upper parts and more or less silvery on the side. They are wholesome food, well flavoured when taken out of clean water. In the fish-farms of western See also:Italy grey mullets are among the See also:principal fish cultivated. (J. T. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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