430 MUGILnm 



Mugil ashanteensis, Bleeker, Nat. Verh. Vet. Haarlem, xviii. 1863, no. 2, p. 91, pi. xix. fig. 2 ; 



Steindachner, Sitzb. Ak. Wien, xli. i. 1870, p. 953. 

 Mugil mexicanus, Steindachner, Sitzb. Ak. Wien, lxxii. 1875, p. 58, pi. viii. 



Depth of body three and three-fourths to five times in the total length, length of 

 head four to four and a half times (less in the very young). Snout as long as the eye 

 in the adult, shorter in the young ; eye perfectly lateral in the young, better visible 

 from below than from above in the adult, partly covered by a much developed adipose 

 lid, which extends in front of and behind the orbit ; diameter of the eye three (young) 

 to five times in the length of the head, once and a half to twice and a half in the 

 interorbital width ; nostrils rather widely separated from each other, the posterior 

 being at least as distant from the anterior as from the orbit ; mouth forming an obtuse 

 angle, a semicircle in large specimens ; maxillary almost completely hidden when the 

 mouth is closed; a lanceolate space between the rami of the lower jaw; upper jaw 

 narrow, its diameter less than half that of the eye ; prseorbital with the edge finely 

 serrated ; two series of scales on the cheek. First dorsal fin with four spines 

 (exceptionally three), the first two measuring from two-fifths to a little more than 

 half the length of the head ; second dorsal fin with 9 rays, originating above the 

 anterior third or the middle of the anal, which is formed of 3 spines and 8 (very 

 rarely 7 or 9) soft rays. Pectoral fin two-thirds to three-fourths the length of the 

 head. Ventral fin inserted at equal distance from the eye and from the anal fin. 

 Caudal fin forked, as long as or a little longer than the eye. Caudal peduncle once and 

 a half to once and two-thirds as long as deep. 39 to 45 scales in a longitudinal series, 

 14 to 16 in a transverse series above the ventral fin ; a large free scale above the axil. 



Bluish grey or greyish olive above, with darker streaks along the series of scales, 

 silvery white beneath ; fins greyish ; a more or less distinct dark spot at the root of 

 the pectoral fin. Young uniform silvery. 



Grows to a length of 560 millimetres, according to Dr. J. C. Mitchell. 



The range of this species is an enormous one, extending over the Mediterranean and 

 the Atlantic coasts from the Loire to the Congo and from the United States to Brazil, 

 as well as to the Pacific coast of South America. It penetrates into the Rhone as far 

 up as Avignon, and is on record from the rivers of Algeria and the freshwater lakes of 

 Tunisia. It has been found in the Nile above Cairo, and is said to extend as far south 

 as Assuan. 



I have examined the following Egyptian specimens : — 



16 Lake Menzaleb.— Loat, 25.4-16.5.99. 



22 Near Grhet-el-Nassara, L. Menzaleh, close to the shore. — Loat, 16-21.5.99. 



4 Freshwater pool near Ghet-el-Nassara. — Loat, 11.6.99. 



2 Near Gemil, L. Menzaleh.— Loat, 3.7.99. 



1 Bahr-^l-Tawilah, in freshwater canal running into L. Menzaleh.-— Loat, 26.6.99. 



8 Nile near Samannud. — Loat, 12-22.7.99. 



1 Nile.— S. S. Allen, 1362. 



