70 NEW SOUTH ‘WALES 
The grey mullets, says Dr. Giinther, numerous in species and indivi- 
duals, inhabit all the coasts of temperate and tropical climates. They 
frequent brackish waters, where they find their food, which consists of 
organic substances, mixed with sand and mud ; to protect their stomachs 
and gill-openings they have the pharynx modified into a filtering 
apparatus. They take in a quantity of sand and mud, and having 
worked it for some time between the pharyngeal bones eject the useless 
portions. These bones are coated with a thick soft membrane, which rests 
upon a large fatty mass, giving it considerable elasticity. Another oval 
mass of fat occupies the roof of the pharynx between the two 
pharyngeal bones. Each branchial has on each side a series of closely- 
set gill-rakers, which are bent sideways and downwards, each set closely 
fitting into the series of the adjoining arch, thus constituting an 
admirable sieve. ‘Some seventy species of grey mullet are known, 
the majority attaining a weight of about 4 pounds. All are eaten, 
and some are esteemed, especially when taken out of fresh water. If 
attention were paid to their cultivation, great profits could be made by 
securing the fry and transferring it into suitable backwaters on the 
shore, in which they would rapidly grow to a marketable size,” —G.8.F., 
p. 504. , , 
Two genera only will occupy us, and they are easily distinguished. 
Mugil, without teeth ; Myxus, with feeble teeth. 
' The best known species in New South Wales are the ‘‘sea mullet” (Mugit 
grandis, Castelnau), the ‘‘ flat-tail mullet” (Mugil Peronii, Cuv. and Val.), the 
“river or hard-gut mullet” (Mugil dobula, Giinther), and the “ sand-mullet or 
talleygalann” (Mycus elongatus, Gtinther). Other species there are, such as 
Mugil cephalotus, Petardi, compressus, argenteus, and acutus, but they are rarely 
seen and little known, and not therefore classifiable as useful fishes. “The first of 
this list, the sea mullet, is a large fish, attaining when full grown a length of 2 
feet and a weight of 8 lbs. It is unsurpassed in richness and delicacy of flavour 
by any fish in the world, the salmon not excepted, and it offers itself for our use 
in countless numbers at the very season when it is in the best possible condition. 
The history of this fish is now-pretty well known, though it will be seen by a 
perusal of the large amount of evidence printed in the Appendix that there are 
many very conflicting statements and opinions given. 
To begin with the spawning season :—In the latter end of summer, that is at 
periods varying from the middle of March to the middle of May, the sea mullet 
is seen to enter all the harbours and inlets of the coast in successive shoals, some of 
the most astonishing vastness. . It is then full of roe, and in splendid condition. 
When not interfered with by fishermen (for it is a fish easily turned from its 
course) or diverted by storms or floods, these shoals penetrate to all parts of these 
inlets, and run up the rivers even into fresh water in search of suitable places for 
the deposition of their spawn. When a suitable spot is reached, the deposition of 
the spawn commences, and the process is carried on in much the same way as 
that of the salmon and other fish of similar habits. Sometimes, however, from 
bad weather or the persecution of fishermen, the shoals are prevented from 
seeking suitable spawning grounds, and the fish being no longer able to retain the 
spawn, shed it loose upon the water, where it becomes entirely lost. When the 
ova are’ properly fertilized and left undisturbed, the young fish make their 
appearance on the approach of warm weather in spring, when they may be seen 
in La shoals close to the land and in shallow water. From that period until 
they become adult, which is probably at the age of two years, they seem to ke 
entirely to the rivers, lakes, and mud flats, where they thrive and grow wit. 
amazing rapidity. When in this half-grown condition they are very inferior in 
flavour to what they become afterwards, having an oily and muddy taste. As 
they are without teeth, they are incapable of eating either animal or vegetable 
substances in the ordinary sense of the term, but they are possessed, Dr. Giinther 
informs us, of a pharyngeal apparatus which sifts the organic from the inorganic 
