1941 CATALOGUE OF FISHES OF TORTUGAS 6o 



Family MUGILIDAE. Mullets 



Mugil curema Cuvier and Valenciennes 



Not common. A school of two dozen of much the same size, up to 350 mm., 

 were seen at the Laboratory dock; a smaller number with several score of young 

 of different sizes in the moat at Fort Jefferson; and others in brackish landlocked 

 pools on Long Key. 



D. rV-C) 1 /'.; A. III^ 1 /^; dorsal and anal scaly; scales about 38; pectoral failing 

 by one-third its own length to reach dorsal. 



A 65-mm. fish was ashen or slaty over the slate bottom of an aquarium, but 

 gray only over sand in a tank and elsewhere. W. H. L. 



Young mullets, under about 50 mm. in length, have only 2 anal spines, whereas 

 adults always have 3. Furthermore, the color of the young is bright silvery. Be- 

 cause of these differences the young were not associated with the adults for a 

 long time, and were thought to belong to a distinct genus and species. It seems 

 probable that Querimana gyrans recorded from Tortugas, under this misappre- 

 hension, by Jordan and Thompson (Bull. U. S. Bur. Fish., vol. 24, 1904 (1905), 

 p. 235) were the young of this species. 



This mullet is numerous at Key West, where it is of some commercial im- 

 portance. 



Widely distributed on both coasts of the Americas. S. F. H. 



Mugil cephalus Linnaeus 



Dr. Longley apparently did not take this species. Jordan and Thompson, how- 

 ever (Bull. U. S. Bur. Fish., vol. 24, 1904 (1905), p. 235), stated, "Fairly common 

 in the winter months, at times congregating in uncountable numbers on the 

 shoal north of Garden Key, where they spend hours swimming around a huge 

 vortex." 



This species is distinguished from Mugil curema by the fewer anal rays, the 

 adults having only 8 soft rays, whereas those of M. curema have 9. Furthermore, 

 the second dorsal and anal have few or no scales, whereas in the adults of M. 

 curema these fins are densely covered with scales. M. cephalus usually has rather 

 definite dark stripes along the rows of scales, which are missing in M. curema. 



Cosmopolitan in distribution. S. F. H. 



Family SPHYRAENIDAE. Barracudas 



Sphyraena barracuda (Walbaum). Great barracuda 



(Plate 2, figure 2) 



This sea wolf occurs wherever other fishes gather, whether at the shore or 

 about the reefs, banks, or bars. The larger ones, 3 to 5 feet in length, were com- 

 monly seen singly, but as many as a dozen or even 20 smaller ones sometimes 

 were seen together, and once about a thousand young up to 150 mm. in length 

 were observed in one school. 



