144 NEW-YORK FAUNA. 



FAMILY XIII. MUGILIDM. 



Opercle entire. Body covered with large scales, extending over the head, where they some- 

 times become polygonal plates. Two dorsals widely separate. Ventrals placed behind 

 the pectorals. No cirrus to the lower jaw. Teeth, when present, very minute. 



Obs. This family was established by Cuvier, on the genus Mugil of Linneus, which in his 

 time contained two species, and those badly determined, and now comprises about sixty 

 species arranged under five genera. They chiefly inhabit the seas of the temperate and torrid 

 zones. The representatives of but one genus only occurs on the coast of New- York. 



GENUS MUGIL. Cuvier. 



Ventrals placed a short distance behind the pectoral fins. The first dorsal fin with four spi- 

 nous rays. The middle of the under jaw tuberculated within, and a corresponding cavity 

 in the upper jaw . Teeth very small. 



Obs. The American species so closely resemble each other, that according to M. Valen- 

 ciennes, it is almost impossible by words alone to express their characteristic difference. It 

 is only by having all the species side by side, that the various proportions of the head to the 

 body, the position of the eye in relation to the snout, and slight shades of difference in the 

 curves of the opercular pieces, render them distinguishable from each other. 



THE STRIPED MULLET. 



MuGIL LINE4TUS. 



PLATE XV. FIG. 42. — (STATE COLLECTION.) 



Mugil Uneatus. Mitchill, MSS. communication to Cuvier. 



Le Muge raye, M. Uneatus. Ccv. et Val. Hist, des Poiss. Vol. 11, p. 96. 



Characteristics. Lower jaw equaling or exceeding the upper in length. Ten or twelve dark 

 longitudinal stripes. Dorsal outline convex. Length six to eight inches. 



Description. Body cylindrical ; dorsal outline nearly as convex as that of the abdomen. 

 Scales large, easily detached, rounded, truncate in front, with a triangular area at that part, 

 marked by numerous parallel raised lines, the exposed portion rounded with concentric lines ; 

 the scales extend over the opercles, the head (where they are completely rounded) to the extre- 

 mity of the snout, and some distance up the caudal rays. I could not trace the lateral line. 

 Head smaller than in most of the species, being 1 .5 in length measured to the upper part of 

 the opercle ; it is flat above, and declivous. Eyes large, with a thick membranous skin. 

 Nostrils double, distant and small ; the anterior smallest and rounded. Suborbital obtusely 

 truncated, finely denticulated on its anterior margin and at the end. Mouth protractile, with 



