266 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
KEY TO THE GENERA 
a,. Stomach muscular, gizzard-like; teeth minute, slender; lower jaw angulate in front; anal with 
3 spines, except in very young Mugil, p. 266. 
aa. Stomach not gizzard-like; teeth in villifonn bands on jaws and vomer; lower jaw anteriorly 
rounded; anal fin with 2 spines Agonostomus, p. 267. 
11. Genus MUGIL Linnaeus 
Mugil Linnseus, Syst. Nat., Ed. X, 1758, 316 (type Mugil cepMlus Linnaeus). 
Querimanna Jordan and Gilbert, Proc, U. S. Nat. Mus. V, 1882 (1883), 588 (type Myxus harengus Gunther). 
Body rather robust, the back and belly rounded; head broad; mouth terminal; 
jaws weak, the lower one with a median obtuse angle; teeth in the jaws minute, 
flexible; eye large, with an adipose lid; scales large, extending forward on head; 
anal spines 3 (2 in very young) ; stomach very muscular, gizzardlike. The species 
of this genus are marine, but some of them enter fresh water and the one included 
here appears to be a regular visitor to the fresh-water streams of El Salvador, where 
it is of some commercial importance and highly prized as a food fish. 
12. Mugil cephalus (Linnseus) 
"LiEBRE Ancha;" "Liza" 
Mugil cephalus Linnaeus, Syst. Nat. Ed. X, 1758, 316 (Europe; based on Artedi); Jorden and Evermann, BulL. TJ. S. Nat. Mus. 
XLVII, 1896, 811, PI. CXXVI, fig. 343; Meek and Hildebrand, Pub., Field Mus. Nat. Hist., Zool. Ser., XV, 1923, 276. 
(For a fuller synonymy and additional references see one of the two last-mentioned works.) 
Head 3.9 to 4.1; depth 3.9 to 3.96; D. IV-I, 8; A. Ill, 8; scales 42. 
Body elongate, compressed; head low and rather broad; snout tapering, its 
length 3.2 to 3.45 in head; eye 4.35 to 4.9; interorbital slightly convex, 2.2; mouth 
rather broad, oblique; upper jaw projecting; maxillary scarcely reaching eye, 
3.6 to 3.75 in head; teeth in the jaws minute but visible with the unaided eye; 
gill rakers minute, close-set; scales moderate, 11 or 12 rows between origin of second 
dorsal and base of anal, each scale with a finely serrate membranous border; origin 
of spinous dorsal slightly nearer tip of snout than base of caudal, the longest spine 
1.8 to 1.9 in head; origin of second dorsal about an eye's diameter nearer origin of 
first dorsal than base of caudal; the fin with a few small scales at the base posterior 
to the anterior rays ; caudal fin forked, the upper lobe longest, pointed, the fin with 
small scales; anal fin similar to the second dorsal, its origin a little in advance of 
second dorsal, with a few minute scales at base posterior to the anterior rays; ventral 
fins inserted under the posterior fourth of the pectorals; pectoral fins a little longer 
than the ventrals, failing to reach origin of first dorsal, 1.5 in head. 
Color of a fresh specimen, 430 millimeters long, dark greenish brown above; 
lower parts silvery; rows of scales on sides with dark stripes; fins all dusky, except 
anal and ventrals, which are pale. 
Two specimens, respectively 410 and 430 millimeters in length, were taken. 
This fish, although a salt-water species, occasionally runs upstream into fresh 
water. The specimens at hand were taken in the Rio Lempa at Suchitoto, about 
180 kilometers, following the course of the stream, from the sea and far above the 
influence of tide. According to local fishermen this fish is a more or less permanent 
