MUGILID^. 231 



Length of head 5 to 5^, of caudal fin 51 to 5|-, height of body 4i to 5^ in the 

 total length, i/i/e— without adipose lids, the diameter of each 4^- to 4f in the 

 length of the head, 1 to 1^ diameters from the end of the snout, and 2 to 2f 

 apart. Interorbital space nearly flat : snout broad and depressed : upper lip not 

 thickened. Angles made by the anterior edges of the mandibles a little obtuse : 

 width of the gape of the mouth nearly equal to three times the extent of the 

 cleft : mandibles broad : the end of the maxilla visible behind and below the 

 angle of the mouth. Preorbital very finely serrated at its external edge. Nostrils 

 nearer the eye than the end of the snout. The free space on the chin is narrow, 

 and reaches to nearly opposite the hind edge of the preopercle. Teeth — fine labial 

 ones in upper jaw. Fins — first dorsal commences either nearer to the snout or 

 midway between it and the base of the caudal fin ; its spines are of moderate 

 strength, the two first being of about equal heigth, and not quite equalling half 

 the length of the head, the interspace between the two fins being equal to If or 

 twice the length of the base of the first dorsal : second dorsal anteriorly slightly 

 higher than the first. Pectoral inserted some little distance above the centre of 

 the depth of the body, and its length equalling that of the head, excluding the 

 snout. Anal commences somewhat in advance of the second dorsal. Ventral 

 inserted midway between the base of the pectoral and that of the first dorsal. 

 Caudal deeply forked, its lobes nearly equalling the length of the head. Scales — 

 24 or 25 between the snout and the spinous dorsal : about 6 in the interspace 

 between the dorsal fins. No large pointed axillary scale : the pectoral fin reaches 

 to about the Hth or 12th scale of the lateral-line : the first dorsal commences 

 above the 13th or 14th scale of the lateral-line : and the second above the 26th. 

 No scales on the second dorsal or anal fins : a long angular one at the base of the 

 ventral. Dolours — silvery becoming lighter below • six to eight dark blueish 

 bands along the rows of scales of the back and sides : head shot with golden : fins 

 grayish. 



In 1861 Mugil oeto-radiatus, Gunther, was separated from M. capita, principally 

 due to its possessing only eight instead of nine soft rays in the anal fin ; a very 

 common variation, not only among the British but also continental specimens. 

 October 20th, 1880, a number arrived from Brixham, out of them I selected nine, 

 and found one had D. 4/8, A. 3/9, another, D. 4/8, A. 3/8, while not the slightest 

 external difierence could otherwise be detected between the two. February 2nd, 

 1881,. a number came from St. Ives, where shoals had been netted the previous 

 day, the longest were 13 inches. The rays agreed with M. capita, the snout 

 with oato-radiatus. 



Names. — Oray mullet, thin-lipped mullet. Mowel (Halliwell) . Le muge eapiton, 

 French. 



Habits. — Couch observed that it never goes far from land, but delights in 

 shallow water during the warm weather, snatching at any oily substance that 

 may chance to be floating about. It ventures some distance up rivers, returning 

 with the tide, and frequently enters by the flood-gates into a salt water mill-pool 

 at Looe, which contains about twenty acres. It selects soft and fat food, or such 

 as has commenced to decompose. 



In autumn and winter these fish are very plentiful and gregarious. They are 

 more active than Mugil chela, and when enclosed in a seine they jump much 

 higher. During October and November, 1880, I examined many obtained from 

 Brixham and the coasts of Cornwall, and all belonged to M. capita as described. 



Means of capture. — Netting, and rarely by hooks, but it is as active at escape 

 as the M. chela. It sucks at its food, anct will occasionally take a rag-worm or 

 artificial fly. In the Stour it is observed that slimy stufi, which after a drought 

 rises most freely from the bed of the river, will stick to the hook, and no other bait 

 equals it. Couch says that it is most readily taken with bait formed of the fat 

 entrails of a fish, or cabbage boiled in broth. It is angled for as the tide is coming 

 in, for on the ebb it returns to salt water. 



Breeding. — ^As before observed (p. 229), I suppose this is the form which has 

 been observed to breed off Cornwall in the winter months. 



As food. — They are moderately esteemed in this country. 



