CHAPTER IX 



THE GRET MULLETS AND ATHERINES 



Both of these groups, which are closely related, have given 

 rise to discussion as to the number of really different kinds 

 that occur in our seas. The writer, trusting merely to a some- 

 what long acquaintance with grey mullet on both the English 

 and Italian coasts, would prefer to recognise only one British 

 species, the thick-lipped kind. Day insists upon adding the 

 thin-lipped species, and Gunther ignores the thick-lipped kind, 

 or names it Mugil septentrionalis, and admits three others. 

 The common atherine is also the only member of its family 

 in any way familiar on our coasts, and indeed Day has some 

 evident hesitation in admitting the second, Boyer's species. 

 For present purposes it is thought that a brief account of 

 the two undoubted British representatives of these groups will 

 suffice. 



Mugilidae 



The Grey Mullet {Mugil chelo), or Thick-lipped Mullet, 



is a common fish on many parts of our coasts, particularly in 



the more southern waters and near harbours or estuaries. 



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