:24 MALAYAN FISHES. 



" There are five or six different species. 



" Tlie most common species is possibly Athcrina tem- 

 minrki (Bleeker). 



■' They are known as " pescados del rei/ " or fislie.s of the 

 kins', among the Spaniards. 



" They are greatly valued as food. The young are termed 

 white bait. The method of catching is nsually by seine or 

 corral. A profitahle industry could be built up by preparing 

 the.-e fish in a good sauce, by ]nckling them with spices, or by 

 drying. They ahonnd at all seasons." 



GREY MULLETS. 



(MUGILIDAE.) 



The ({rey Mullet are a widely distributed and very important 

 family. They inhahit shallow water in the seas, estuaries and 

 riverj and none are known to occur in Yery deep water. 



Their haibit of keeping to the shallows, in large shoals, renders 

 their capture, in enclosures, whicli dry out at low tide, and in 

 mullet nets, an easy matter. As there arc no restrictions as to size 

 and no close season, mullet are getting scarcer every year in 

 Malayan waters. 



Grey Mullet feed, more or less, on the organic matter found in 

 mud and they are peculiar among fi.-h in tliat they have a true 

 gizzard, lined with a thick horny epithelium. 



Maillet are very common and highly appreciated in Australia. 

 Stead^ writes : 



" During a recent year in Xew South Wales alone 45,000 

 liaskets of Mullet — principally >Sea Mullet — were received for 

 disposal at the various fish markets. The average basket of 

 Mullet contains aliout T5 pounds weight: and, if we calculate 

 the fish at an average of one pound weight each, we find that 

 we liave tlie imjjosing total of SjoTojOOU individuals." 



In Xew South Wales Mullet may only Ije netted at certain 

 times and at certain places, and there is a legal limit as to size as 

 with all valualjle edible fish in that Colony. 



Tlie breeding reason with most of our Mullet appears to be 

 Ijetwcen November and Fel)ruary during tlie X. E. monsoon. 



At tliis time I liave seen the Anding in myriads in tlie surf, 

 near the mouth of the Trengganu river and other rivers on the 

 East coast. A quantity of yellowish foam and scum i; lirought 

 down 1)V the rivers which are usually in full spate in Xovemlier and 

 December, and tliis foam either contains food or provides a suitable 

 sliade and shelter for tlie ova of the Mullet wliich are, I lielieve, 

 ]jelagic or floating eggs. A day of steady incessant tropical rain 

 durino- the X. E. monsoon is the day above all others to which all 



1 Fishes of Australia. 



