THE FISHES OF NEW JERSEY. 
oN) 
Genus Munwus Linneeus. 
The Sur Mullets. 
Mullus auratus (Jordan and Gilbert). 
PLATE 62. 
Goat Fish. Red Mullet. 
Head 3; depth 4; D. VII-I, 8; A. II, 6, 1; snout 2% in head; 
eye 4; maxillary 3; interorbital space 324; second dorsal spine 
17%; pectoral 124; least depth of caudal peduncle 3. Body elon- 
gate, compressed. Profile of head anteriorly above convex. Eye 
a little elongate, about midway in head. Mouth small, upper jaw 
protruding a little. Maxillary falling a little short of orbit, and 
its greatest expansion about half of same. Teeth small, those in 
upper jaw less conspicuous than mandibular. Vomerine and 
palatine teeth in large patches, coarse and granular. Interorbital 
space a trifle convex. Gill-rakers 3 + 14, slender, a little shorter 
than pupil. Spinous dorsal inserted a little behind origin of 
ventral. Rayed dorsal inserted a little nearer origin of pectoral 
than base of caudal, and anteriorly highest. Anal about opposite 
rayed dorsal. Ventral inserted just behind origin of pectoral. 
Brownish dull scarlet, crimson where scales have fallen. Length 
344 inches. I have a single example seined in the surf at Stone 
Harbor July 12th, 1903. In life it was more or less grayish 
above, and white beneath washed everywhere with silvery. Along 
the side an irregular dull and rather dark red band extending to 
the middle of the base of the caudal. Above and below this 
several blotches of a similar red color. 
This species is known otherwise from within our limits by the 
accounts of Drs. H. F. Moore and T. H. Bean. It is said to 
reach a length of 8 inches. 
Mullus surmuletus auratus Moore, Bull. U. S. F. Com., XII, 
1892, p. 362. 
Mullus auratus Bean, Bull. Am. Mus. N. H., IX, 1897, p. 
359- 
