FAMILY MUGILIDE — MUGIL. 147 
supposed to have been drawn from memory. The ventrals are placed under the first dorsal, 
and he has forgotten the pectorals altogether. 
The White Mullet is in high repute among epicures. It is a plump firm fish, and appears 
in our markets in July and August. Dr. Mitchill speaks of one unusually large, which 
weighed two and a half pounds. Scheepff describes them as being very abundant on the 
shoal and sandy coasts of Virginia and Carolina. They appear, he says, at certain intervals 
in large scholes, and then are caught in great numbers and salted. Our coast is probably the 
extreme northerly limit of its geographic range. 
THE ROCK MULLET. 
MuciL PeTRosvs. 
M. petrosus, Le Muge des Roches. Cuv. et Vat. Hist. des Poiss. Vol. 11, p. 88. 
Characteristics. The second dorsal and anal covered with scales. No spot at the base of the 
pectoral. Length 6-7 inches. 
Description. Eyelids covered with a thick mucosity. Maxillaries slender, and covered by 
the suborbital bones. The second dorsal and anal covered with scales. Lips thin. ‘The 
edge of the caudal fin scarcely blackish. 
Length, 6°0-7°0. 
The above brief notice of this fish we extract from the Historzre des Poissons, where it is 
spoken of as a southern species. It ranges from Brazil to the coast of New-York, from 
which latter place the authors received specimens. 
THE SPOTTED MULLET. 
Moai, PLUMIERI. 
Le Muge de Plumier. Cuv. et Vau. Hist. des Poiss. Vol. 11, p. 90. 
Characteristics. The second dorsal and anal without scales. Height of the body to its length, 
as one to four and a half nearly. Scales small. 
Description. Resembles the preceding, but the body is deeper, and the head still more so. 
At the nape, the depth of the head is equal nearly to three-quarters of the total length. 
Second dorsal and anal without scales. From forty-two to forty-five scales are counted in a 
line from the gills to the base of the caudal fin. The skin over the eye is very thick. Sub- 
orbital truncated, and minutely dentated near its end. Lips thin. Tongue thick and rounded, 
with two small patches of asperities on its sides near the root. Two large plates, covered 
with strong asperities, on the palatines. Vomer crescent-shaped. 
