MUGIL CEPHALUS. 71 



characteristic o£ the Rhone, in which it is taken at Avignon as late as Septem- 

 ber; but as the cold weather comes on, it descends to the sea. Its French 

 name is le Muge cephale. In Spain it is found in the Ebro and Guadalquivir. 



In this species the body is five times as long as high, and four and a half 

 times as long as the head. 



The head is slightly convex from side to side, and the width of the inter- 

 orbital space is three-sevenths the length of the head. The eyes are hidden 

 behind a broad fatty membrane, which leaves only a vertical slit for the pupil. 

 The upper lip is not conspicuous for its thickness ; the mandibular bones form an 

 obtuse angle in front. The cleft of the mouth is more than twice as wide as 

 deep at its angles. The maxillary bone is covered by the pre-orbital bone. 

 The posterior nasal opening is midway between the orbit and the anterior nasal 

 aperture. The space on the chin between the mandibles is broadly lanceolate. 



This species differs but little from Mugil ccqiito in form and proportions, 

 but the body is thicker. The scales are relatively large, and rather longer, with 

 a very small median canal. They do not extend to the snout, and are not 

 found upon the vertical fins. 



In the first dorsal fin the first two spines are half as long as the head ; the 

 pectoral fin, as in M. capita, has its base above the middle of the body. It 

 extends to abovit the eighth scale of the longitudinal series. There is a long 

 carinate triangular scale at its base. 



The colour is like that of the Grey Mvdlet, being dark bluish-grey on the 

 back, paler on the sides, silvery-white below. About seven sub-parallel longi- 

 tudinal lines of dark-blue colour, with golden iridescence, extend along the sides. 

 There are black spots on the second dorsal fin. The pectoral fin is brown. The 

 anal fin has a black border. 



The fish weighs three to four kilogrammes, and may be half a metre long. 

 It spawns in May. There are two pyloric appendages in this species, and 

 six or seven in M. capito. 



Other species enter the rivers on the coasts of France, among which 

 Blanchard mentions the Miifjil auratus and Miigil saliens, which both range 

 into the Black Sea. 



Mugil chelo (Cuvier). 



1 D. 4, -Z D. 1/8, A. 3/9, V. 1/5, P. 2/16. Scales : lat. line Vo, trans. l(i. 



This is essentially a Mediterranean Grey Mullet, but is best known in 

 Italy. Among other rivers it enters the Sile, and is caught at Treviso. The 

 height of the body is one-fifth of the total length, or a little more, and exceeds 

 the length of the head, which is three-elevenths of the length. The snout is 



