MULLET (OF., Fr. ntuirt, diminutive of mane. from Lat. mu Hiss, red mullet Any one I of it variety of useful fishes, principally of the Mugilidfc. In this family the body is nearly cylindrical. with large scales and two widely separated dorsal fins, the first with four still spines. The mouth is small. The known mullets belong to the genus Mugil. of Nvhich there are many species found in all warns Waters. Tile common or aHtilct eephalus) is the largest (10 to 12 pounds) and best of all. It occur, Oil huth coasts Of Ameriea, and also in Europe. It often ascends rivers, and searches for .oft or fat for food, frequently obtained by thrusting its mouth into the mud. It is easily reared in ponds, readily answers the call which usually summons it to be fed. and Wan in request aniong the ancients. Mullets are uscd fresh, salted, and smoke-dried. A preparation of their roe, called is in great esteem as a eondiment in Italy and the south of France. They are often caught in the
.Nlediterraneall by angling from a rock, with a bait paste, when they have been previously traeted to the spot by macaroni thrown into the water. The white or mullet I 3.1 eurema) is found on both shores of America, and is of importance as a food fish. An abundant species about the Florida Keys is the mullet (lIngil triehodon ). Mullets are very numerous in shoals in the lagoons of the Gulf Coast in late winter and spring, and are captured generally by means of casting nets. Among the fishermen of Spanish America, mullets are called and with descriptive adjectives for the vari ous species.
The name is also given in the Western and Southern United states to various suckers of the genus Moxostoma. Consult Goode, Fishery In dustries, see, i. (Washington. 1844). See Plate of AND ALLIES.