GRAY MULLETS. 
333 
The Gray Mullets belong to the most prolific of 
fishes". They are said to spawn in comparatively shallow 
water, where the bottom is weedy, sandy, muddy or 
strewn with shells, and, according to Stearns observa- 
tions in the Gulf of Mexico, at spots where the water 
changes from salt to fresh with the ebb of the tide, at 
a temperature of from 70° to 75° Fa-hr. Fat and de- 
licious as it is before the spawning-season, the Gray 
Mullet is afterwards thin, lean and unfit for food. In 
the countries bordering on the Mediterranean a caviare 
of great reputation, known as botargo, is prepared from 
the ovaries. From the age of 3 to 5 months, accord- 
ing to Stearn, the Gray Mullet is from 1 to 2 V 2 in. 
long, and is found in great quantities near shore. During 
the first year it is said to grow to a length of about 
8 in. and during the second to 12 or 13 in., when it 
weighs about a. pound and a, quarter. When it returns 
to shore from its wanderings out at sea, it changes 
colour. In the open sea the back is glossy blue, in 
the inlets light brown, and in fresh water of a dark 
brown colour. 
In large aquaria the Gray Mullets may be kept 
alive without difficulty for lengthy periods. There are 
instances to show that these fishes, where confined to 
fresh water, may even become fatter than in the open 
sea. * * * * 6 . The Frenchman Vidai/ asserts that he has cul- 
tivated or rather reared thousands of Mullets in ponds. 
Carew, the Cornish historian, according to Couch/', 
had formed a pond on a branch of the Tamar, in which 
Mullets were fed at regular periods, and they were 
drawn together to the appointed spot at the sound made 
by the chopping of their food. 
Gunther divided the genus Mugil — if we now 
follow Gill and separate from it Chcenomugil and Rhino- 
mugil — into three groups, corresponding to Cuvier’s 
three chief species, Mugil cephalus, capito and clielo. 
The first group is marked by the well-developed adipose 
membrane over the eyes, both in front of and behind 
the pupil, and the slight tumidity of the upper lip; 
the second is without the adipose membrane, but also 
without the swollen upper lip; and the third is distin- 
guished by the prominent tumidity of the upper lip. 
The first group, which is wanting in the Scandinavian 
fauna, is spread both over the Old and New Worlds, 
the other two belong exclusively to the Eastern Hemi- 
sphere. Within the limits of the Scandinavian fauna 
three species have been found, which may be most 
easily distinguished as follows: 
A: Height (thickness) of the upper lip at least 
about 1(1 % of the length f of the head behind 
the eyes Mugil clielo. 
B : Height of the upper lip at most about 12 1 / 2 
% of the length of the head behind the 
eyes : 
a: Length of the ventral fins at most about 
70 / of that of the pectoral fins Mugil auratus. 
b : Length of the ventral fins at least about 
80 % of that of the pectoral fins Mugil capito. 
a Olsen, Piscat. Atl., pi. 30, estimates the number of the eggs in a female specimen of Mugil capito at thirteen million, an estimate 
which is probably too high, for the eggs, according to Rafeaele (Mitth. Zool. Stat. Neap. Bd. 8, p. 77), are 1 mm. in diameter when the 
embryo has begun to develop, as was the case with the eggs he found during the summer months. They are said to develop while floating 
at the surface. * 
6 Arnold, Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1831, p. 126 and Yarr., Brit. Fish., ed. 2, vol. I, p. 239. 
c Bull. Soc. Zool. d’Acclimat., ser. 2, tome IV (1867), p. 190. According to this writer it is possible, with the usual precautions, 
to keep from 600 to 800 Mullets, between 25 apd 40 cm. in length, in a pond of an area of 25 — 30 square metres and a depth of about 
H/o metres. 
d Fish. Brit. Isl., vol. Ill, p. 13. 
