Hawaiian Fishes 



149 



into the belly which is silvery in color. The fins are uncolored. This 

 species reaches a length of from one and one-half to three and one-half 

 inches. Specimens four inches in length are about nine years old. 



Drawn from Jordan & Evermonn 



This fish is known only from the Hawaiian Islands. It is commonly 

 seen in schools about Pearl Harbor and on the inside of reefs and 

 shallow bays. 



THE MULLET FAMILY 



72 Family Mt/gilidae 



The mullets are fairly stout fishes with blunt heads and large scales. 

 They are bluish silvery in color and measure from one to two feet in length. 



Because the mullets feed on organic matter in mud, they have an 

 unusual digestive apparatus. The teeth are feeble and the mouth which 

 is small leads into a filter like apparatus in the pharynx. This filter is 

 modified from the organs of the pharynx to keep the dirt out of the gills. 

 Mud and sand are taken into the mouth and there separated. The 

 indigestible elements are spit out and the rest is swallowed into a muscular, 

 gizzard- like stomach somewhat like that of chickens. 



Of more than 100 species inhabiting the fresh and coastal waters of 

 warm regions, only three are known from the Hawaiian Islands. 



Mullet 



72-1 M//gi/ trichilt/s Vaillant & Sauvage 

 This mullet is found from India and the East Indies, through 

 Melanesia and the Islands of the Pacific as far as the Hawaiian Islands. 



Common Striped Mullet or Ama 



72-2 Mngil cephaliis Linne 



Plate III, Figure 9 



The mullet is bluish gray above, silvery white beneath, and is marked 

 by dark streaks along the rows of scales. It will reach a length of two feet. 



