FAMILY MUGILID.^ MUGIL. 147 



supposed to have been drawn from mcmnrv. The ventrals are ))laced under tlic first dorsal, 

 and he has forgotten the pectorals altogether. 



The White Mullet is in high repute among epicures. It is a plump firnn fish, and appears 

 in our markets in July and August. Dr. Mitchill speaks of one vmusually large, which 

 weighed two and a half pounds. SchoepfF 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 

 e.xtrerae northerly limit of its geographic range. 



THE ROCK MULLET. 



Ml'GlL PETROsnS. 



.1/. prlnsus, Lc Miige lies Roches. Crv. cl Val. Hist. Hcs Poiss. Vol. 11, p. OS. 



(liaracfcrisfics. 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 tliin. The 

 edge of the caudal fin scarcely blackish. 



Length, 6-0- 7-0. 



The above brief notice of this fish we extract from the Histoire 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. 



MnGIL PLUMIERI. 



Le Muge dc Plumicr. Cuv. et Val. Hist, des Poiss. Vol. 11, p. DO. 



Charncteristics. The second dorsal and anal without scales. Height of ihe body to its Icngtli. 

 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 arc counted in a 

 Ime 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, coverc<l 

 with strong asperities, on tlie palatines, ^'omer crescent-shaped. 



