Flathead Mullet
Mugil cephalus
- Class
- Ray-finned fish
- Rarity
- Common
- Observations
- 4,224
- Most observed in
- 🇺🇸 United States
- Conservation
- Least Concern
Description
The striped mullet (Mugil cephalus) is an important food fish species in the mullet family Mugilidae. It is found in coastal temperate, tropical and subtropical waters worldwide. Its length is typically 30 to 75 centimetres (12 to 30 in). It is known with numerous English names, including the flathead mullet, flathead grey mullet, striped mullet, black mullet, bully mullet, common mullet, grey mullet, sea mullet and mullet, among others. The striped mullet is a mainly diurnal coastal species that often enters estuaries and rivers. It usually schools over sand or mud bottoms, feeding on zooplankton, dead plant matter, microalgae and detritus. The adult fish normally feed on algae in fresh water. The species is euryhaline, meaning that the fish can acclimate to different levels of salinity.
Summary adapted from the Wikipedia article “Flathead grey mullet”.