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Wallis Lake 'Fan-tailed' Mullet
Sea Mullet Mugil cephalus Linnaeus, 1758
Dear Mark
Wallis Lake 'Fan-tailed' Mullet.
I wish to advise you that Wallis Lake has 'turned-up' another species which we have been unable to identify.
Unfortunately, I have only two poor photographs of the specimen, which was taken in a commercial meshing net on Wallis Lake approximately twelve months ago.
The fish has all the features of a mullet in body size and shape, with the obvious exception of the 'flared' nature of the caudal, dorsal and ventral fins. All attempts to identify the specimen through our library have been exhausted. It has been suggested that the fish may be a mutant form of mullet.
Any information you have about the identity would be greatly appreciated. I look forward to your reply.
Regards,
Martin Angle
District Fisheries Officer
Wallis Lake Office
View letter reporting Fan-tailed Mullet from the Gulf of Mexico.
The image to the right shows a "normal" Sea Mullet. This specimen was collected at Shellharbour Lagoon, New South Wales, by S. Griffiths as part of his university research.
Mr J. Gasemzadeh conducted research in the Australian Museum Fish Section on mullets during 1998. We contacted him about this enquiry, and he responded as follows.
"I looked at the image of the mullet and it is very interesting. I imagine that it is most probably a Sea Mullet Mugil cephalus, although the image is not clear enough to count the scales and the amount of adipose eyefold development, or it might be a Flat-tail Mullet.
As you know this sort of fin development (fairy fins) and other deformities are quite often observed in different species of fishes. I also observed another case exactly similar to this one. That was a photo of a Sea Mullet caught somewhere in Brazil. This fish had pronounced fin development especially the caudal fin."
View a map (Australia or world) of the collecting localities of specimens in the Australian Museum Fish Collection.
Juveniles are often caught by anglers but adults are far more difficult to catch on hook and line. They are usually netted.
Further Reading
- Hutchins, B. & R. Swainston. 1986. Sea Fishes of Southern Australia. Complete Field Guide for Anglers and Divers. Swainston Publishing. Pp. 180.
- Kuiter, R.H. in Gomon, M.F, J.C.M. Glover & R.H. Kuiter (Eds). 1994. The Fishes of Australia's South Coast. State Print, Adelaide. Pp. 992.
- Kuiter, R.H. 1993. Coastal Fishes of South-Eastern Australia. Crawford House Press. Pp. 437.
- Why do mullet jump?
