MULLID&, — LXVII. 141 
orbital with a silvery streak. Head 44; depth 2}. D. XII, 12. 
A. II, 11. Scales 10-66-20. L. 24. West Indies, rarely N. to 
Cape Cod. (Pimel. bosqui Lacépéede.) (Lat., one who follows.) 
Famity LXVIL MULLIDA. (THe SurMuLtets.) 
Body elongate, with large, ctenoid scales; head with large scales ; 
profile of head blunt; mouth small, the teeth various; premaxil- 
laries protractile; maxillary simple, partly hidden by the broad 
preorbitals ; throat with two long barbels. Dorsals two, well sep- 
arated, the first of about 7 high spines, the second short; A. short, 
with two small spines; V. and gill structures normal. Tropical 
seas, 5 genera and 35 species, rather small, carnivorous fishes 
mostly valued as food. 
a, Teeth in lower jaw and on vomer and palatines; none in upper jaw; in- 
terorbital space flat and broad; opercle without spine. Mu.uus, 172. 
172. MULLUS (Artedi) Linneus. (Ancient name from pvAdos, 
lip.) 
386. M. surmuletus L. SurMuLLET. Red: sides with three 
yellow stripes ; barbel 1} in head, reaching beyond lower anterior 
angle of opercle; eye smallish, 5 in head. Head 34; depth 4, 
D. VIl-1,8. <A.II,6. Lat. 1.36. L.10. Europe, one of the 
most esteemed of food fish, very rarely taken on our coast. (Wood’s 
Holl; N. Y¥.; Pensacola.) Our form (var. auratus Jordan & Gil- 
bert) differs slightly from the European. (Eu.) (Low Lat., 
“above mullets.”) 
Famity LXVII. SCIASNIDA. (THe Drums.) 
Body elongate, more or less, with weakly ctenoid scales. Lat- 
eral line continuous to the end of caudal fin. Head covered with 
scales; cranium cavernous, the muciferous system highly developed, 
surface of the skull very uneven; chin with pores; mouth and 
teeth various ; maxillary without supplementary bone, slipping be- 
neath preorbital ; premaxillaries protractile; gills and gill struc- 
tures normal. D. deeply notched, its soft part long; A. short, with 
1 or 2 spines; V. normal. Ear bones very large, Vertebre about 
24; air-bladder usually large and complicated, its structure enabling 
the fish to make grunting or drumming sounds. Carnivorous fishes, 
most of them valued as food. Genera 25; species 130, in all warm 
seas, some genera confined to fresh waters. 
a. Vertebre typically 14 + 10, the number in the abdominal region always 
greater than that in the caudal; lower jaw prominent; teeth not villi- 
form; preopercle entire; anal spines very weak. (Otolithine.) 
8. Anal moderate of 7 to 13 rays, its length not half that of soft D.; tip of 
upper jaw with (usually) 2 pointed canines; none at tip of lower. 
Cyrnoscion, 173. 
