THE FISHES OF PORTO RICO. 
113 
Color, dusky above, silvery below; a dusky streak along each row of scales; scales on side and 
opercle with dark punctulations; ventrals pale- yellowish ; other fins dusky. 
Found from Cuba to Patagonia; common throughout the West Indies and along the coast of Brazil, 
and very common in Havana market, where it is known as “lebrancho.” It is the most abundant mullet 
seen in the markets of Porto Rico, and perhaps the most abundant species of the family about the 
island. It is an important food-fish and is held in high esteem. Length, 16 to 18 inches. 
Mugil brasiliemis Agassiz, in Spix, Pise. Brasil., 234, pi. 72, 1829, Atlantic Ocean off Brazil; the types in the museum at 
Munich; Poey, Fauna Puerto-Riquena, 335, 1881; Jordan & Evermann, 1. c., 810, 1896. 
Mugil liza Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., XI, 83, 1836, Brazil, Porto Rico, Maracaibo, Surinam, and Martinique. 
Mugil lebranchus Poey, Memorias, II, 260, pi. 18, fig. 3, 1861, Cuba; Poey, Fauna Puerto- Riquena, 335, 1881, Stahl, 1. c., 78 and 
164, 1883. 
67. Mugil curema Cuvier & Valenciennes. “Liza”; “Josect”; While Mullet. 
Head 4 to 4.4; depth 3.9 to 4.5; eye 4; snout 3.5; D. iv-i, 8; A. hi, 9; scales 38,-11; interorbital 
width 2.6. Body moderately elongate; snout rather narrow and pointed; upper profile curved very 
slightly from snout to dorsal fin; ventral outline more convex. Upper lip rather thick; preorbital 
narrow, nearly covering maxillary posteriorly; eye with broad adipose membrane in front and behind; 
teeth thick-set, small, but distinctly visible to naked eye; scales small, about 23 from origin of dorsal 
to tip of snout; soft dorsal, anal, and caudal densely scaled; soft dorsal and anal concave; pectoral 
short, not reaching origin of spinous dorsal, longer in young; caudal deeply forked, the lobes nearly 
twice length of middle rays. 
Color, dark-olive above, with steel-blue reflections, silvery below; no dusky streaks along side; a 
rather small dark blotch on base of pectoral; spinous and soft dorsals and pectoral pale, with numerous 
small dark punctulations; caudal pale, yellowish at base, margin dark; anal and ventrals yellowish; 
side of head with two yellowish blotches. 
This species measures a foot or less. Next to M. brasiliensis it is the most abundant mullet 
about Porto Rico. Specimens are in the collection from San Juan, Aguadilla, Mayaguez, Ensenada del 
Boqueron, Arroyo, Fajardo, Vieques, Culebra, and Caguas. It has a very wide range, being found from 
Cape Cod to Brazil, and Magdalena Bay to Chile, and is generally common on both coasts of America, 
particularly in the Tropics. Its occurrence in fresh water in the Rio Grande at Caguas, some 40 miles 
from salt water, is of interest. It is found there in some numbers, and is one of the most important 
food-fishes of the region. 
Mugil curema jjuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., XI, 87, 1836, Brazil, Martinique, and Cuba; Jordan & Evermann, 
1. C., 813, 1896. 
Mugil petrosus Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., XI, 89, 1836, Brazil, Surinam, Gulf of Mexico, and Cuba. 
68. Mugil trichodon Poey. “Liza” ; Fan-tail Mullet. 
Head 4.2; depth 3.6; eye 4; snout 3.5; interorbital width 2.5; D. iv-i, 8; A. nr, 8; scales 33,-11 . 
Body robust, depth somewhat greater than in Mugil curema; snout rather narrow and pointed; dorsal 
and ventral outlines about equally curved; upper lip thicker than in any other American species; 
preorbital narrow, covering little of maxillary; eye covered in front or behind by a broad, adipose 
membrane; teeth wide-set, larger than in most other species, about as long as nostril, and plainly 
F. C. B. 1900—8 
