LARVAL FORMS OF THE FRESH-WATER MULLET (AGONOSTOMUS 



MONTICOLA) FROM THE OPEN OCEAN OFF THE BAHAMAS AND 



SOUTH ATLANTIC COAST OF THE UNITED STATES 



By WILLIAM W. ANDERSON, Fishery Research Biologist 



Among the Mugilidae in the dip-net collections, 

 made dnring cruise 5 (Jan. 20 to Feb. 20. 195-1) 

 and cruise 9 (Xov. 3 to Dec. 12, 1954) of the Fish 

 and Wildlife Service motorvessel Theodore N. 

 Gill, were 10 larval specimens of fresh-water mul- 

 let. AgonoKtomuK monticola (Bancroft). I have 

 found no previous record of the capture of this 

 species from the open ocean. 



.1. manticola is a fresh-water species of mullet. 

 Its habitat has been given by Jordan and Ever- 

 mann (1896, p. 819) as, "fresh waters of the West 

 Indies and eastern Mexico, Vera Cruz, etc." 

 Evermann and Mareh (1902, p. 115) record it 

 as found in "fresh waters of the West Indies 

 and eastern Mexico." Sjjecific mention is made 

 of its abundance in the fresh- water streams of 

 Porto Rico. Meek and Hildebrand (1916, p. 335 ) 

 give its luibitat as "Me.xico; Ontral America; 

 botli slopes of Panama and the West Indies'"; 

 mentioned specifically are specimens from Cuba 

 and Guatemala. Beebe and Tee- Van (1928, 

 p. 92) state that it is j'l'esent in "fresh-water 

 streams of the West Indies and the east coast 

 of Mexico"; mention is made also of specimens 

 from fresh- water streams in Haiti. Schultz (1949, 

 ^>\>. Ill and 112) lists the occurrence of specimens 

 in the fresh-water rivers of Venezuela. .Jor- 

 dan, Evermann. and Clark (1930, p. 254) state, 

 that tliis species inhabits "fresh waters of the 

 West Indies and the Atlantic and Pacific streams 

 of Mexico and Central America." Carr and Coin 

 (1955, p. 84) give its luibitat as snuill. swift 

 streams, and its Florida range as, "streams of the 

 Atlantic drainage and Pinellas Comity on the 

 AVest Coast." I liave located lu) reference to A. 

 monticola occuning in streams in tiie Bahamas. 



In addition to presenting occurrence records of 

 the young of A. monticoht in ocean waters oft' the 

 Bahamas and the South Atlantic Coast of the 

 United States, this report gives a description of 

 the yoimg, and presents tlie body proportions of 

 hirval and juvenile stages. It compares certain 



42;il81 o— 57 



anatomical characters with the young of Mugil 

 curetna Cuvier and Valenciennes and with Mugil 

 cephalus Linnaeus, and also discusses the pos- 

 sibilitj' that ^4. monti.cola is a catadromous fish. 

 I appreciate the aid given by Giles W. Mead, 

 Jr., and Frederick H. Berry in reviewing the 

 manuscript. I also wish to thank Jack W. 

 Gehringer for review of the manuscript and for 

 other help during the coui-se of the study. My 

 thanks also go to officials of the United States 

 National Museum and the Museum of the Uni- 

 versity of Florida for loan of specimens. 



MATERIAL 



Specimens from tlie Theodore N. Gill collec- 

 tions were captured at 6 locations oft' the Bahamas 

 and the Florida and Georgia coasts: 



Off Elbow Cay, Bahamas, 2(;°20' X. and 76°44' 

 W., 1 specimen (28.1 nun. standard length) on 

 Jan. 23 and 1 specimen (28.6 mm.) on Jan. 24. 

 Of!' Eleuthera Island, Bahamas, 25°30' N. and 

 76°30' W., 2 specimens (24.1 mm. and 31.3 mm.) 

 on Jan. 27, and 1 specimen (29.4 mm.) on Jan. 

 28. Oti' lower Florida coast, 28°00' N. and 79°00' 

 W., 1 specimen (25.5 mm.) on November 16. Off 

 central Floiida coast, 29°00' X. and 80°32' W., 1 

 specimen (30.6 mm.) on Nov. 17. Off central 

 Florida coast, 29°00' N. and 79°48' W., 2 speci- 

 mens (26.4 and 27.0 mm.) on Nov. 18. Oft' tiie 

 lower (ieorgia coast, 30°57' N. and 79° 14' AV.. 1 

 specimen (27.3 nun.) on Xov. 19. See figure 1. 



For comparison, I examined 2 specimens of .1. 

 monticola (33.0 and 39.0 nnn. standard lengtli) 

 U. S. Xational Museum Xo. 101483, taken in Kio 

 Carolina, Porto Rico, P>b. 17, 1934; and fiom the 

 University of Florida collections, 7 specimens 

 (31.5, 47.0. 55.9, 59.0, 64.5, 75.5, and 119.0 nun.) 

 taken approximately 2 to 4 miles upstream from 

 the mouth of the Yateras River, Cuba, on Sept. 

 16, 1952; also from the University of Florida col- 

 lections taken from fresh waters of Florida, 3 

 specimens (44.8, 48.0, and 56.0 mm.) from Cedar- 



415 



