130 Dr. Hancock on the Mullets of Guiana, 



the back,— all four of its rays are strong, sharp-pointed 

 spines; 2nd dorsal, unarmed, consisting of soft divaricate 

 twin rays, that is to say, composed of two pieces each, as in 

 those of the caudal fin ; tail, forked ; the pectoral fins being 

 set high up towards the back, pointing upwards and back- 

 wards ; head rather conic, or tapering, not quadrate, as said 

 of the M. cephalus ; the callus at the corner of the mouth 

 less obvious than in the queriman — lips thin and protractile, 

 the upper one for near an inch ; no teeth, unless the setae in 

 the lips may be considered as such ; dark-greenish, grey back ; 

 silvery belly ; about twenty inches in length (said to be a full- 

 grown fish). The roe, or ovaria, are small, in proportion to 

 the body; not half the size of the M. cephalu^ or^.th^ qf the 

 queriman. ^eitA i»dj ni hmn 



This fish, the common grey mullet, is not described in the 

 Systema Naturae. It agrees in no respect with the M. cepha- 

 lus, which is marked for it in the English translation ; nor 

 with any of the species there noticed, except in the position of 

 the anterior dorsal fin, which is near the middle of the back, 

 i, e., equidistant between the snout and the insertion of the 

 tail ; a circumstance common, perhaps, to most of the spe- 

 cies of this genus. Is this fish, then, (the common grey mullet) 

 still a nondescript ? or where is it described ? 



In its general contour, size, and appearance, it closely re- 

 sembles our queriman, of the Guiana coast, the labranch of 

 the French and Spanish colonists. On more minute inspec- 

 tion, however, we find it to be a very distinct species. Un- 

 fortunately, the entrails had been taken out, and I had no 

 opportunity to observe the internal structure, which I was 

 desirous of comparing with those of the Guiana mullets, in 

 both of which, the stomach is a strong, muscular viscus, like the 

 gizzard of gallinaceous birds ; of the figure of a short cone. 

 The gullet is inserted into it on the under and posterior part ; 

 the forepart is flat and circular, the centre perforated with 

 the gut. Yet those fish live entirely by suction: no ingesta 

 is ever found within them, except soft mud and mucus. 



It is commonly supposed that the gizzard, or muscular sto- 

 mach, of certain birds, has been given them as a means of 



