RED MULLETS. 
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The Red Mullets, —Family Mull id M. 
Two long erectile barbels dependent from the lower jaw serve at once to 
distinguish the red mullets from all the preceding families, with which they 
agree in the characters already mentioned. In these well-known fishes the body 
is rather low and somewhat compressed, with large thin scales, of which the edges 
may be very finely serrated. The lateral line is continuous, and the moderate¬ 
sized eyes are situated on the sides of the head. The terminal mouth has a 
rather short lateral cleft, and the teeth are very feeble. There are two short 
dorsal fins, placed at a considerable distance from one another; the spines of the 
first being weak, and the second being placed above the anal, which it resembles in 
form. The ventrals have one spine and five rays, and the pectorals are short. In 
place of the seven branchiostegal rays of the perches, the red mullets have but four. 
Represented by something like forty species, the red mullets, which range over the 
STRIPED RED MULLET (J Rat. size). 
seas of Europe and the tropics, are typically represented by the genus Mullus, of 
which there appears to be but a single European species (Mullus barbatus). The 
tropical forms have, however, been split up into several genera, such as Mulloides, 
and Upeneus, mainly distinguished from one another by the characters of their 
teeth. Although these mullets are essentially marine, young individuals, and more 
rarely adults, are not unfrequently taken in rivers. They are all highly esteemed 
for the table, and it is but seldom that they attain a weight of even 2 or 3 lbs. 
The ordinary European red mullet, which does not usually exceed 6 inches in 
length, is coloured carmine-red on the upper-parts, the under-parts being silvery 
white. On the other hand, the striped mullet, which, although designated a 
distinct species under the name of M. surmuletus, is regarded by Dr. Gunther 
as probably the female of the former, has three or four yellow longitudinal stripes 
on the sides; and is also stated to differ slightly in the number of the fin-rays. 
This kind is common on the Cornish coast, whereas the plain-coloured form is but 
