| Golden grey mullet | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Mugiliformes |
| Family: | Mugilidae |
| Genus: | Chelon |
| Species: | C. auratus |
| Binomial name | |
| Chelon auratus (Risso, 1810) | |
| Synonyms [2] | |
| |
The golden grey mullet (Chelon auratus) is a fish in the family Mugilidae.
It has hydrodynamic, very elegant elongated, more or less cylindrical body, with strong tail-fin. It has dark grey back that transit into silver white toward the belly with several grey horizontal stripes. Golden spot is present in gill covers. [3]
Its maximum length is around 60 centimetres (24 in) and weight around 1.5 kilograms (3 lb 5 oz), but commonly it is much smaller fish with average specimen having 30 centimetres (12 in) in length. [4]
Reproduction takes place in the sea, from July to November. [3]
It is present in Eastern Atlantic from Scotland to Cape Verde, in the Mediterranean and Black Sea and in coastal waters from southern Norway and Sweden (but not Baltic) to Morocco. It is rare off coasts of Mauritania. It has been introduced into the Caspian Sea. [1]
Golden grey mullet is a neritic species, usually inshore, entering lagoons, ports and estuaries, but rarely moves into freshwater. It feeds on small benthic organisms, detritus and occasionally insects and plankton. [5]
It ranges from shallows to depths of about 20 metres (70 ft), but it is most common between 1–10 metres (0–30 ft). It prefers sandy bottoms covered with various vegetation and smaller rocks where it can find its food and protection from predators like larger eels, European sea bass, Common dentex and similar predatory species.
In many countries there is a minimum allowed fish length for golden grey mullet of 20 centimetres (7.9 in). In some estuaries it is main target of both commercial fishery and recreational fishermen.
Commercially it is caught using special nets for mullets that allows catching specimen that jump over first net line. [6] The average annual catch of golden grey mullet in Croatian waters is 50 tonnes (49 long tons; 55 short tons). [7] In sport and recreational fishing, it is often caught on rod and reel, using rigs with floats and hooks baited with paste made out of flour, cheese and fish guts, but sometimes will accept bread, cheese and similar baits. [4]
Meat is white, soft and very tender. Taste depends on fishing location. Golden grey mullet can be pan fried, especially smaller fish. Barbequed with some olive oil, lemon juice and parsley is often considered a delicacy. [8]
Also, it can be used as part of mixed fish stew.
Spotted seatrout, also known as speckled trout, is a common estuarine fish found in the southern United States along coasts of Gulf of Mexico and the coastal Atlantic Ocean from Maryland to Florida. While most of these fish are caught on shallow, grassy flats, spotted seatrout reside in virtually any inshore waters, from the surf of outside islands to far up coastal rivers, where they often come for shelter during cold weather. Contrary to its name, the spotted seatrout is not a member of the trout family (Salmonidae), but of the drum family (Sciaenidae). It is popular for commercial and especially recreational fishing in coastal waters of the southeastern United States. Adults reach 19-37 inches in length and 3-17 pounds in weight.
The flathead grey mullet is an important food fish species in the mullet family Mugilidae. It is found in coastal tropical and subtropical waters worldwide. Its length is typically 30 to 75 centimetres. It is known with numerous English names, including the flathead mullet, striped mullet, black mullet, bully mullet, common mullet, grey mullet, sea mullet and mullet, among others.
The gag grouper, also known as velvet rockfish, the gag, or charcoal belly, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a grouper from the subfamily Epinephelinae which is part of the family Serranidae, which also includes the anthias and sea basses. It comes from warmer parts of the West Atlantic, including the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. It is a drab, mottled-gray fish lacking the distinguishing features of most other groupers. Its pattern of markings resemble the box-shaped spots of the black grouper. It lacks the streamer-points on the tail fin that scamp and yellowmouth grouper have and lacks yellow coloration around the mouth.
The South African mullet, also called a harder mullet or simply harder, is a species of mullet. It is found in South African coastal waters from Walvis Bay (Namibia) to KwaZulu-Natal, and grows to a maximum length of 40.5 cm (15.9 in). The person the specific name honours was not recorded by Andrew Smith when he described this species but it is most likely to be John Richardson (1787-1865), the Scottish naturalist, surgeon and Arctic explorer.
The European seabass, also known as the Branzino, European bass, sea bass, common bass, white bass, capemouth, white salmon, sea perch, white mullet, sea dace or Loup de Mer, is a primarily ocean-going fish native to the waters off Europe's western and southern and Africa's northern coasts, though it can also be found in shallow coastal waters and river mouths during the summer months and late autumn. It is one of only six species in its family, Moronidae, collectively called the temperate basses.
Yellow-eye mullet, also known as Coorong mullet, conmuri, estuary mullet, Forster's mullet, freshwater mullet, pilch, pilchard, Victor Harbor mullet, yelloweye, yellow-eyed mullet known are small, near-shore fish found in temperate waters of southern Australia from just north of Sydney, New South Wales to Shark Bay in Western Australia, around Tasmania, and New Zealand.
Chelon is a genus of mullets found in coastal marine waters, estuaries and rivers in the Atlantic Ocean and Arabian Sea.
The sand grey mullet is a species of mullet found in coastal marine waters of Australia.
The big-scale sand smelt is a species of fish in the family Atherinidae. It is a euryhaline amphidromous fish, up to 20 cm in length.
The thicklip grey mullet, Chelon labrosus, is a coastal fish of the family Mugilidae. It typically is about 32 cm (13 in) long, with 75 cm (30 in) being the maximum recorded. It is named after its thick upper lip and silvery-grey appearance.
The Missolonghi-Aitoliko lagoons complex is located in the north part of the Gulf of Patras in the central west coast of Greece. It is one of the most important Mediterranean lagoons. It is a shallow area of 150 km2, extended between the Acheloos and Evinos rivers. It is protected by the Ramsar Convention and it is also included in the Natura 2000 network.
Porgy is the common name in Australia for any fish which belongs to the family Sparidae. They are also called bream. Porgies live in shallow temperate marine waters and are bottom-dwelling carnivores. Most species possess grinding, molar-like teeth. They are often good eating fish, particularly the gilt-head bream and the dentex.
The thinlip mullet is a species of fish in the family Mugilidae. It is found in shallow European waters and is a migratory species.
The East Atlantic peacock wrasse is a species of wrasse native to the eastern Atlantic Ocean from Spain to Morocco and in the coastal waters of the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea. This species lives around rocks surrounded by eelgrass and can also be found in brackish waters in lagoons. It occurs at depths from 1 to 50 m. This species can reach 44 cm (17 in) in standard length, though most grow no larger than 25 cm (9.8 in). This species is sought as a game fish and is also important to local peoples as a food fish. It can also be found in the aquarium trade.
Planiliza carinata, the keeled mullet, is a species of grey mullet from the family Mugilidae which is found in the western Indian Ocean and eastern Mediterranean Sea. It colonised the Mediterranean by Lessepsian migration from the Red Sea through the Suez Canal. The keeled mullet is a species of minor importance in commercial fisheries.
Beymelek Lagoon is a lagoon on the Mediterranean coast, which is used as a fishery, in Antalya Province, southwestern Turkey. It is named after the village of Beymelek, which is located to the west of the water body. The lagoon is situated in the Demre ilçe (district) of Antalya Province at coordinates 36°16′N30°03′E.
The squaretail mullet, also known as the diamondscale mullet, is a species of grey mullet from the family Mugilidae. It is an Indo-Pacific species and is the only species in the monospecific genus Ellochelon.
The Diassanga mullet is a species of ray-finned fish, grey mullet from the family Mugilidae. It is found in the eastern Atlantic around the coasts of West Africa.
The grooved mullet is a species of ray-finned fish, a grey mullet from the family Mugilidae. It is found in the coastal waters of the eastern Atlantic Ocean off the western coast of Africa, as far north as Mauritania, and into the western Indian Ocean.
The pinkeye mullet, also known simply as pinkeye, or freshwater mullet, Richmond mullet, or river mullet, is a species of ray-finned fish from the grey mullet family Mugilidae and the only species in the genus Trachystoma. It is endemic to northeastern Australia where it occurs from the Burnett River in Queensland to the Clyde River in New South Wales. It is a subtropical species which is found in deep, slow flowing sections of rivers as well as in estuaries although it moves into coastal seas to spawn. It feeds mainly on algae and plant material, as well as detritus and benthic invertebrates.
Media related to Liza aurata at Wikimedia Commons
