THE FOOD AND GAME FISHES OF NEW YORK. 365 



8l. White Mullet (Mugil curema Cuv. & Val.). 



Mugil curema BEAN, Bull. U. S. F. C, VII, 145, 1888 ; igth Kept. Commrs. Fish. N. 



Y., 272, pi. XXI, fig. 26, 1890. 



Mugil curema BEAN, 520! Ann. Kept. N. Y. State Mus., 103, 1900. 

 Mugil petrosus DEKAY. N. Y. Fauna, Fishes, 147, 1842. 



Color silvery, bluish above ; no dusky streaks along the sides in life, but faint 

 streaks are evident after preservation in spirits ; a small dark blotch at base of 

 pectoral ; caudal pale, yellowish at base, dusky at tip ; anal and ventrals yellowish ; 

 two yellow blotches on side of head. 



The White Mullet reaches the length of I foot. On the Atlantic coast it ranges 

 from Cape Cod to Brazil ; in the Pacific it is recorded from California to Chili. It 

 is a very important food fish. 



WHITE MULLET. 



The White Mullet appears with the striped species, but is less abundant in 

 Gravesend Bay and is smaller in size. The young were taken in Great South Bay 

 in August, 1898, and half-grown individuals were abundant in September and 

 October. Adults were scarce. 



Dr. Mitchill calls this the Summer Mullet. He records a specimen that weighed 

 2^ pounds, the heaviest coming under his observation. DeKay found the species 

 in New York markets in July and August. 



82. Common Mackerel (Scomber scombrus Linnaeus). 



Scomber scombrus JORDAN & GILBERT, Bull. 16, U. S. Nat. Mus., 424, 1883. 

 Scomber scombrus JORDAN & EVERMANN, Bull. 47, U. S. Nat. Mus., I, 865, 1896, pi. 

 CXXXIII, fig. 363, 1900. 



Color dark blue, or greenish blue above, the upper parts with 30 or more wavy 

 transverse bands of a darker hue, these extending below the lateral line and nearly 

 to the median line of the body ; beneath the ends of these lines and slightly sepa- 



