FAMILY, III— MULLIDiE. 119 



Family, III— MULLID^E * Swainsom 



Branchiostegals four : pseudobranchiae. Body rather elongate. Profile of head more or less parabolic. 

 Eyes of moderate size, lateral. Mouth in front of snout, rather small, and with a lateral cleft. Two stiff 

 barbels below the chin belonging to the hyal apparatus. Teeth feeble and variously inserted. Two dorsal 

 fins situated at some distance asunder : the anal similar to the second dorsal : ventral with one spine and 

 five rays. Scales large, feebly ctenoid, and rather deciduous. Air-vessel, when present, simple. Pyloric 

 appendages few or in moderate numbers. 



Geographical distribution. — Seas of temperate parts of Europe and those of most of the tropics, many 

 young and some adults have been captured in rivers. 



Uses. — Usually excellent as food. We are informed that they were originally termed Mullus by the Romans, 

 with reference to the scarlet colour of the sandals that their Consuls wore, and which were subsequently 

 adopted by their Emperors under the designation of Mullens. These fish kept in vivaria did not increase in 

 size. The liver was considered the most delicate portion of the Red Mullets, which are now frequently termed 

 the "Woodcock of the seas," due, it is asserted, to the fact that they are dressed similarly to those birds. 



SYNOPSIS OF GENERA. 



1. Upeneoides. — Teeth in both jaws, on the vomer, and palatine bones. Red Sea, East coast of Africa, 

 seas of India, to the Malay Archipelago and beyond. 



2. Mulloides. — Teeth in several rows in both jaws, palate edentulous. From the Red Sea and East coast 

 of Africa, through the seas of India, to the Malay Archipelago and beyond. 



3. Upeneus. — Teeth in a single row in both jaws, palate edentulous. From the Red Sea and East coast 

 of Africa, through the seas of India, to the Malay Archipelago and beyond. 



4. Upeneichthys. — Teeth in both jaws and on the vomer, none on the palatines. Australian seas. 



5. Mullus. — Teeth in the lower jaw, none in the upper : present on the vomer and palatines. Mediter- 

 ranean and temperate parts of Europe. 



Amongst these fishes a minute first spine to the dorsal fin appears to be sometimes wanting ; in other 

 instances, where it is of a larger size, it seems rarely to be absent. There are likewise several other points that 

 should not be overlooked. The comparative length of the barbels appears liable to increase with age ; 

 sometimes a sharp spine exists at the shoulder in the young, mostly disappearing as the adult stage is arrived 

 at, although in such it may remain or even be present on one side and absent on the other, as a rule it atrophies 

 into a blunt point. The preorbital may be scaled or scaleless. 



In the " Fishes of Zanzibar," 1866, Messrs. Giinther and Playfair reunited all the genera into that of 

 Mullus (p. 40). Dr.- Giinther observed in the " Zoological Record" for 1865, p. 183 : " The Recorder regrets 

 to have formerly adopted the genera proposed in this family by Bleeker * * the Recorder regards the Midlidce 

 as one natural genus." However, in Garrett's " Fische <1. Sudsee," 1874, Dr. Giinther still retains Bleeker's 

 genera, and they appear to have been generally adopted by other Ichthyologists as based on distinct anatomical 

 characters. Still it does not seem supei'fluous to suggest that specimens of the genus Upeneoides may be taken 

 in the Indian seas with a more or less edentulous vomer and palate. 



Dr. Bleeker however changes his nomenclature in revising this family in 1874, considering the genus 

 he formerly termed as Upeneoides = Upeneus, Cuv. and Val. thus cancelling Upeneoides : Mulloides he retains, 

 but includes all his other fish of this family under the generic term Parupeneus, chiefly characterised by a single 

 row of conical teeth in both jaws ; vomer, and palate edentulous. Scales along the median line, of the abdomen, 

 having an obtuse keel. Dorsal and anal fins scaleless. 



Genus, 1 — Upeneoides, Bleeker. 



Megalepis, Bianc. ; Upeneus, sp. Cuv. ; Upeneus, (C. V.) Bleeker, 1874. 

 Definition as in the family, except: — teeth fine in thejaivs, vomer, and palatine bones. 



Geographical distribution. — From the Red Sea and East coast of Africa through the seas of India, to the 

 Malay Archipelago and beyond. 



SYNOPSIS OF SPECIES. 



1. Upeneoides vittatus, D. 8 | |, A. 7, L. 1. 38-39. Air-vessel present. Body, dorsal and caudal fins striped. 

 Red Sea, through those of India to the Malay Archipelago and beyond. 



2. Upeneoides sulphureus, D. 8 | f , A. 7, L. 1. 36-38. No air-vessel. A golden stripe from the orbit to 

 the upper third of the tail : dorsal banded. Seas of India to the Malay Archipelago. 



* In Cut. and Val. iii, p. 419, it is remarked " Ce genre est tellement isole, que l'on peut le considerer comme formant a lui 

 seul une famille particuliere." 



