Striped Mullet

Striped Mullet 

(Mugil cephalus), a fish of the family Mugilidae. There are 12 brownish stripes on the sides of the body. The fish is about 75 cm long and weighs about 3.5 kg. It is widely distributed in tropical seas. In the USSR the striped mullet inhabits the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov, and, less commonly, the Sea of Japan. A mobile marine fish, it runs in schools. It enters freshwater parts of seas, such as estuaries and lagoons. The fish reaches sexual maturity at the age of six, seven, or eight years of age. It spawns intermittently from May to September; the roe are pelagic. The striped mullet feeds on fouling organisms and small invertebrates. It is commercially valuable and is potentially suitable for breeding in estuaries.

REFERENCE

Nikol’skii, G. V. Chastnaia ikhtiologiia, 3rd ed. Moscow, 1971.