180 



FISHES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



Mullets are caught in every county bordering on salt water, the l)ulk of 

 the yield coming from Brunswick, New Hanover, Pender, Onslow, Carteret, 

 Pamlico and Dare counties. (Mugil, mullet.) 



155. MUGIL CEPHALUS Linnaeus. 



"Mullet"; "Jumping Mullet"; Striped Mullet. 



Mugil ceplmliis Linmcus, Systema Naturse, ed. x, 316, 1758; Europe. Jordan, 1886, 27; Beaufort. Jenkins, 

 1887, 87; Beaufort. Jordan & Evermann, 1896, 811, pi. cxxvi, fig. 343. Linton, 1905, 361; Beaufort. 

 Mugil lineatus, Yarrow, 1877, 212; Beaufort. 

 Mugil plumieri, Jordan & Gilbert, 1879, 381; Beaufort. 



TQuerimana gyrans Jordan & Gilbert, Proceeding;? U. S. National Museum, 1884, 26; Key West. Jenkins, 1885, 

 11; Beaufort. Jordan, 1886, 27; Beaufort. Jenkins, 1887, 87; Beaufort Harbor. Smith, 1893o, 192, 

 195, 199; Pasquotank River, Edenton Bay, and Roanoke River. 



Diagnosis. — Form stout, slightly compressed, depth rather more than .25 length; head 

 about equal to depth; snout short, less than eye; gape short, extending only to anterior margin 

 of eye; interorbital space wide, convex; scales in lateral series about 41 or 42, in transverse series 

 14, about 23 scales on median line between tip of snout and beginning of dorsal, few scales on 

 soft dorsal and anal fins; dorsal rays iii + i,8 the first spine about .5 length of head; soft dorsal 

 and anal fins similar, their margin incised; caudal fin deeply forked; pectorals rather long, 

 extending nearly to oi^posite origin of dorsal; longest ventral rays about equal to first dorsal 

 spine. Color: dark greenish or bluish on back, silvery on sides, and whitish beneath; a dark 

 area on each scale of the 7 or 8 upper rows, forming distinct longitudinal stripes; fins dusky, 

 the ventrals yeUowish. (cephalus, head.) 



Fig. 71. Striped Mullet; Jumping Mullet. Mugil cephalus. 



The striped mullet is of wide distribution; in the new world it is found 

 coastwise from Massachusetts to Brazil and from California to Chile; in the old 

 world it inhabits the waters of southern Europe and northern Africa. On the 

 south Atlantic coast of the United States it occurs in immense numbers, being 

 one of the most abundant food fishes from North Carolina southward. It attains 

 a length of 2.5 feet, but averages less than 1.5 feet. Mr. George N. Ives states 

 that the largest North Carolina mullet seen by him weighed 10 pounds. 



This is by far the most abundant and important salt water fish of North 

 Carolina, this state ranking next to Florida in the extent of the mullet fishery. 

 It is found on the ocean beaches and in the sounds and estuaries during a large 

 part of the year, and is caught mostly with drag nets. Dr. Yarrow has left the 

 following note on the fish in the Beaufort region in 1871: 



