MULLIDA. — LXVIL. 141 
orbital with a silvery streak. Head 41; depth 21. D. XII, 12. 
A. IJ, 11. Scales 10-66-20. L. 24. West Indies, rarely N. to 
Cape Cod. (Pimel. bosqui Lacépéde.) (Lat., one who cuts.) 
Famity LXVII. MULLIDAL. (THE SurRMULLETS.) 
Body elongate, with large, ctenoid scales; head with large scales ; 
profile of head blunt; mouth small, the teeth various; premaxil- 
laries protractile; maxillary simple, partly hidden by the broad 
preorbitals ; throat with two long barbels. Dorsals two, well sep- 
arated, the first of about 7 high spines, the second short; A. short, 
with two small spines; V. and gill structures normal. ‘Tropical 
seas, 5 genera and 35 species, rather small, carnivorous fishes 
mostly valued as food. 
a. Teeth in lower jaw and on vomer and palatines; none in upper jaw; in- 
terorbital space flat and broad; opercle without spine. © Muuuus, 172. 
172. MULLUS (Artedi) Linneus. (Ancient name from pvAdos, 
lip.) 
386. M.surmuletus L. SurRMULLET. Red: sides with three 
yellow stripes; barbel 1} in head, reaching beyond lower anterior 
angle of opercle; eye smallish, 5 in head. Head 31; depth 4. 
D. VIl-1,8. A.,6. . Lat. 1. 36. LL. 10. Europe, one of the 
most esteemed of food fish, very rarely taken on our coast. (Wood’s 
Holl; N. Y.; Pensacola.) Our form (var. auratus Jordan & Gil- 
bert) differs slightly from the European. (u.) (Low Lat., 
“above mullets.’’) 
Famiry LXVIII. SCILAGNIDA. (THE Drums.) 
Body elongate, more or less, with weakly ctenoid scales. Lat- 
eral line continuous to the end of caudal fin. Head covered with 
scales; cranium cavernous, the muciferous system highly developed, 
surface of the skull very uneven; chin with pores; mouth and 
teeth various ; maxillary without supplementary bone, slipping be- 
neath preorbital ; premaxillaries protractile; gills and gill struc- 
tures normal. D. deeply notched, its soft part long; A. short, with 
1 or 2 spines; V. normal. Ear bones very large, Vertebre about 
24; air-bladder usually large and complicated, its structure enabling 
the fish to make grunting or drumming sounds. Carnivorous fishes, 
most of them valued as food. Genera 25; species 130, in all warm 
seas, some genera confined to fresh waters. 
a. Vertebre typically 14 + 10, the number in the abdominal region always 
greater than that in the caudal; lower jaw prominent; teeth not villi- 
form; preopercle entire; anal spines very weak. (Otolithine.) 
6. Anal moderate of 7 to 18 rays, its length not half that of soft D.; tip of 
upper jaw with (usually) 2 pointed canines; none at tip of lower. 
Cynoscion, 173. 
