146 NEW-YORK FAUNA. 



THE WHITE MULLET. 



MUGIL ALEtLA. 



Mugildbula. LiN. Syst. Nat. Ed. I2ma, p. 520. 



M. id., New-York Mullel. Mitch. Lit. and Phil. Soc. Vol. 1, p. 447. 



Le Muge blanqvetle, M. id. Cuv. et Val. Hist, dcs Poiss. Vol. 11, p. 91. 



Characteristics. General hue whitish. Caudal with a blackish border. Lips finely pecti- 

 nated. Length nine inches. 



Description. Body almost cylindrical, tapering. Head moderate. Eyes covered with a 

 thick membranous skin. Scales on the head and body large and rounded. Forty-two were 

 counted in a line from the branchial aperture to the base of the caudal fin. A series of small 

 scales on the snout, between the anterior nostrils. Lateral line indistinct or wanting. Scaly 

 plates at the base of the pectorals and ventrals ; small scales on the pectoral, ventral and caudal 

 fins, those on the latter fin ascending high up. Mouth protractile. Lips thin, finely pectinated, 

 with membranous slips. Jaws nearly even ; the lower with a distinct prominence in the 

 centre, within, and received into a corresponding depression in the upper jaw. Tongue 

 ridged along the medial line, smooth, covered with large papills, as are the pharyngeals, 

 but with no vestige of teeth. 



The first dorsal fin placed just over the point reached by the tips of the ventrals ; the second 

 ray slightly longest. Second dorsal fin composed of one short feebly spinous, and eight arti- 

 ticulated rays ; the first two longest ; the fifth, sixth and seventh short ; the last equaling the 

 fourth in length. Pectorals small and pointed, composed of one simple and fourteen branched 

 rays. Ventrals short and broad ; the first ray acutely spinous, the others very ramose. Anal 

 fin opposite the second dorsal, which it resembles in shape and size, is composed of one 

 short sharp spine and seven branched rays. Caudal fin deeply emarginate ; its extremities 

 ragged, and covered high up with small oblong scales. 



Color. A uniform white, rather darker along the sides of the back, with a few dark-colored 

 longitudinal stripes, which occur in many species. 



Length, 9 ' 0. Of the head, 1 ' 8. Depth at the dorsal fin, 2 ■ 0. 

 Fin rays, D. 4.1.8; P. 15; V. 1.5; A. 1.7; C. 15. 



Whether this be the M. alhula of Linneus, may well be doubted. There are also discre- 

 pancies in the radial formula as given by Mitchill, Cuvier and myself, which I cannot pretend 

 to reconcile. Li all the characters given by Mitchill and myself, except in the radial formula, 

 our specimens agree. In one particular, the pectinated lips, which are distinctly mentioned 

 by Mitchill, do not appear to have been noticed by Cuvier and Valenciennes. This ciiaracter 

 approximates it to the M. lahes of the Mediterranean ; but in our species, the lips are not 

 thick. It is also distantly allied to the M. cirrostomus of Forster, from the Pacific. 



The figure of this species, as given by Catesby, (if indeed it be this species,) may well be 



