| Sand grey mullet | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Mugiliformes |
| Family: | Mugilidae |
| Genus: | Myxus Günther, 1861 |
| Species: | M. elongatus |
| Binomial name | |
| Myxus elongatus Günther, 1861 | |
The sand grey mullet (Myxus elongatus) is a species of mullet found in coastal marine waters of Australia. [1]
As general mullet, fish they have a terminal mouth with thick lips, 2 dorsal fins, a lunate homocercal caudal fin (upper lobe and lower lobe are equal length) and do not have a lateral line organ, which is usually used for detecting changes in their surroundings. The cycloid (smooth outer edge) scales of the sand grey mullet fish are thin, flexible and overlapping with a mix of silver and grey color scheme. They are easily identified by their bright yellow eyes.
They have a skeleton made of bone and have a streamline body shape for body undulations that allows them to be fast swimmers. Being constant swimmers required large amounts of oxygen which is achieved by water passing over their gills, which are in place of lungs to still have a large surface area through the various grooves in the gill tissue. The oxygen is obtained when they exhale and the water is pushed through their pharynx. Their blood flows in the opposite direction (countercurrent exchange) of the water over the gills in able to remove the maximum amount of oxygen from the water. They use a swim bladder to adjust their buoyancy by changing the volume of gas in the bladder to keep an overall constant volume for the bladder at different depths.
They are known for their texture and strong fish flavor when cooking. [2] Around the age of 2 to 3 years they reach their full mature size making them ready to reproduce. [3] The growth between the sexes differ, as females are typically longer averaging 255mm while males grow to 230mm. [4] However, the maximum length recorded as 900mm.
The sand grey mullet is found in Australia from fresh waters to estuarine of the temperate water regions in 1-10m depth. [5] They are mainly found in the wild traveling in schools of fish where they just swim together in a pack without an obvious leader, constant distance between each other, and starting and stopping at the same time. This is believed to be in order to reduce their chance of getting eaten by a predator by confusing the predator and decreasing the probability of getting eaten. They predator will still eat and some will die but the overall probability of each fish getting eaten decreases in a school system. The sand grey mullet is often fished for both commercial and recreational purposes for their meat and to be used as bait. [6] Fishing regulations are not strict with only regulations on the different sizes of mesh nets acceptable.
The sand grey mullet can spawn eggs from November to March, however, peak season is from January to March depending on the location they are living in. Their reproductive organs are different shapes and colors depending on the stage of development. [6] As they grow older their reproductive organs become thinner and. Many ray-finned fish are known for being hermaphroditic but this is unknown about the sand grey mullet fish. They are known for only spawning in the ocean waters directly into the water column with little to no care for eggs. Most die during early stages of life but once developed they have a low mortality rate. [7]
They have teeth that are attached to fibrous strands instead of directly to the jaw bone, [8] that help them eat phytoplankton, mollusks, and small crustaceans. [9] The evolutionary adaption of a flexible jaw allows them to open their mouths larger and have more chance of catching phytoplankton to eat from the water.
The freshwater mullet and pinkeye mullet were previously referred to the same genus as the sand grey mullet, but several studies have found them to be generically distinct. [10] [11] [12] The sand grey mullet fish is part of the family mugilidae that are ray-finned fish (actinopterygii).
Perch is a common name for fish of the genus Perca, freshwater gamefish belonging to the family Percidae. The perch, of which three species occur in different geographical areas, lend their name to a large order of vertebrates: the Perciformes, from the Greek: πέρκη, simply meaning perch, and the Latin forma meaning shape. Many species of freshwater gamefish more or less resemble perch, but belong to different genera. In fact, the exclusively saltwater-dwelling red drum is often referred to as a red perch, though by definition perch are freshwater fish. Though many fish are referred to as perch as a common name, to be considered a true perch, the fish must be of the family Percidae.
The swim bladder, gas bladder, fish maw, or air bladder is an internal gas-filled organ that contributes to the ability of many bony fish to control their buoyancy, and thus to stay at their current water depth without having to expend energy in swimming. Also, the dorsal position of the swim bladder means the center of mass is below the center of volume, allowing it to act as a stabilizing agent. Additionally, the swim bladder functions as a resonating chamber, to produce or receive sound.
The mullets or grey mullets are a family (Mugilidae) of ray-finned fish found worldwide in coastal temperate and tropical waters, and some species in fresh water. Mullets have served as an important source of food in Mediterranean Europe since Roman times. The family includes about 78 species in 20 genera.
Pipefishes or pipe-fishes (Syngnathinae) are a subfamily of small fishes, which, together with the seahorses and seadragons, form the family Syngnathidae.
Pelagic fish live in the pelagic zone of ocean or lake waters—being neither close to the bottom nor near the shore—in contrast with demersal fish that do live on or near the bottom, and reef fish that are associated with coral reefs.
Mudskippers are any of the 23 extant species of amphibious fish from the subfamily Oxudercinae of the goby family Oxudercidae. They are known for their unusual body shapes, preferences for semiaquatic habitats, limited terrestrial locomotion and jumping, and the ability to survive prolonged periods of time both in and out of water.
The Port Jackson shark is a nocturnal, oviparous type of bullhead shark of the family Heterodontidae, found in the coastal region of southern Australia, including the waters off Port Jackson. It has a large, blunt head with prominent forehead ridges and dark brown harness-like markings on a lighter grey-brown body, and can grow up to 1.65 metres (5.5 ft) long. They are the largest in the genus Heterodontus.
Shark anatomy differs from that of bony fish in a variety of ways. Variation observed within shark anatomy is a potential result of speciation and habitat variation.
Chelon is a genus of mullets found in coastal marine waters, estuaries and rivers in the Atlantic Ocean and Arabian Sea.
Hoplosternum littorale is a species of catfish belonging to the Callichthyinae subfamily of the family Callichthyidae. It is known as tamuatá in Brazil, atipa in French Guiana, hassa in Guyana, kwi kwi in Suriname, cascadu or cascadura in Trinidad and Tobago, and busco or currito in Venezuela.
The golden lined whiting, Sillago analis, is a species of inshore marine fish of the smelt whiting family, Sillaginidae that inhabits the coastlines of northern Australia and lower Papua New Guinea. The golden lined whiting can be more readily distinguished by its colour than other whitings in the genus Sillago, although swim bladder morphology and spine and ray counts are the most precise method of identification. S. analis is an opportunistic predator, taking a variety of crustaceans, polychaetes and molluscs, with a transition of diet seen as the fish mature. One unusual aspect about the species diet is the large amounts of molluscan siphons it takes. The species spawns between January and March, with juvenile fish inhabiting the shallow protected coastal waters. Golden lined whiting is important to fisheries centered on Shark Bay in Western Australia and also in Queensland, although makes up a relatively minor component of the whiting fishery.
The freshwater mullet is a species of fish in the family Mugilidae. It is endemic to South Africa.
The sand whiting, also known as the summer whiting, yellowfin whiting or blue-nose whiting, is a common species of coastal marine fish of the family Sillaginidae, the smelt-whitings. It is a slender, slightly compressed fish that is very similar to other species of Sillago, with detailed spine, ray and lateral line scale counts needed to distinguish the species between its nearest relative Sillago analis. The sand whiting is distributed along the east coast of Australia from Cape York south to Tasmania, as well as Lord Howe Island and New Caledonia in the Pacific Ocean.
Coral reef fish are fish which live amongst or in close relation to coral reefs. Coral reefs form complex ecosystems with tremendous biodiversity. Among the myriad inhabitants, the fish stand out as colourful and interesting to watch. Hundreds of species can exist in a small area of a healthy reef, many of them hidden or well camouflaged. Reef fish have developed many ingenious specialisations adapted to survival on the reefs.
Lepadogaster is a genus of clingfishes native to the eastern Atlantic Ocean extending into the Mediterranean Sea. Lepadogaster belongs to class Actinopterygii. This means that they share many of the same characteristics as eels, ray-finned fish, and sea horses to name a few. The main characteristic of all of them though is having fin rays. These fin rays are made of webbed skin and are attached to portions of the body that connect fins to the bones. Lepadogaster species have a distinct difference in the formation of their dorsal and anal fins. While most other ray-finned fish spines, branched fin-rays, and middle radials, Lepadogaster species do not have these. Instead, they have cartilage in place of the mentioned features. These clingfish are mainly found near the rocky coasts and inside intertidal zones. Lepadogaster is known mostly as a clingfish, meaning that it spends most of its time attached to the surface of rocks.
Fish physiology is the scientific study of how the component parts of fish function together in the living fish. It can be contrasted with fish anatomy, which is the study of the form or morphology of fishes. In practice, fish anatomy and physiology complement each other, the former dealing with the structure of a fish, its organs or component parts and how they are put together, such as might be observed on the dissecting table or under the microscope, and the later dealing with how those components function together in the living fish. For this, at first we need to know about their intestinal morphology.
Lepadogaster purpurea, the Cornish sucker, is a species of clingfish from the family Gobiesocidae. It is found in the eastern North Atlantic Ocean and in the Mediterranean Sea.
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.
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 shark mullet, also known as the sharp-nosed mullet, popeye mullet, or skipjack mullet, is a species of ray-finned fish from the grey mullet family Mugilidae. It is found in Australia and New Guinea where it occurs in muddy freshwater habitats and mangroves, it feeds on algae and insects taken from the surface but also on benthic invertebrates. It can breathe air and sometimes moves over exposed mud by wriggling. It was formerly classified in the genus Rhinomugil, with the corsula, but is now placed in its own monospecific genus, Squalomugil.