Species Mugil cephalus Linnaeus, 1758
Sea Mullet, Bully, Bully Mullet, Flathead Mullet, Grey Mullet, Hard-gut Mullet, Hardgut Mullet, Hardgut River Mullet, Mangrove Mullet, Poddies, Poddy Mullet, River Mullet, Sand Mullet, Striped Mullet
Type data:
Syntype(s) NHRM LP.43, European Ocean.- Mugil dobula Günther, A. 1861. Catalogue of the Fishes in the British Museum. Catalogue of the acanthopterygian fishes in the collection of the British Museum. London : British Museum Vol. 3 586 pp. [420, 421, fig.].
Type data:
Syntype(s) BMNH 1847.6.17.23, Perth, WA; BMNH 1848.10.25.32, Perth, WA; BMNH 1851.2.29.7–8, Perth, WA; BMNH 1844.2.15.51, Perth, WA; BMNH 1869.7.18.3, Perth, WA. - Mugil gelatinosus Klunzinger, C.B. 1872. Zur Fische-fauna von Süd Australien. Archiv für Naturgeschichte 38(1): 17-47 pl. 2 [35].
Type data:
Holotype SMNS 1563, Murray River, SA. - Mugil grandis Castelnau, F.L. de 1879. Essay on the ichthyology of Port Jackson. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 1 3(4): 347-402 [386].
Type data:
Syntype(s) whereabouts unknown, Port Jackson, NSW. - Mugil muelleri Klunzinger, C.B. 1879. Die v. Müller'sche Sammlung Australischer Fische. Anzeiger der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Klasse, Wien 16(22): 254-261 [395] [as Mugil Muelleri; described in more detail in Klunzinger, C.B. 1880. Die von Müller'sche Sammlung australischer Fische in Stuttgart. Sitzungsberichte der Akademie der Wissenschaften. Wien 80(1): 325–430 pls 1–9 [395]].
Type data:
Holotype SMNS 2572 (missing), King George Sound, WA. - Mugil marginalis De Vis, C.W. 1885. New fishes in the Queensland Museum. No. 5. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 1 9(4): 869-887 [870].
Type data:
Syntype(s) QM I.121, Brisbane, QLD; QM I.9774, Brisbane, QLD. - Mugil marginatus Saville-Kent, W. 1893. The Great Barrier Reef of Australia; its Products and Potentialities. London : W.H. Allen & Co., Limited. [xiii] + 388 pp. 21 figs 64 pls. [294] [nom. nud.; McCulloch, A.R. 1930. A check-list of the fishes recorded from Australia. Memoirs of the Australian Museum 5(1–4): 1–534 (114) refers to this as a misspelling].
- Mugil hypselosoma Ogilby, J.D. 1897. New genera and species of Australian fishes. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 22(1): 62-95 [74].
Type data:
Syntype(s) QM, Port Jackson and Botany Bay, NSW. - Mugil oecur Ogilby, J.D. 1897. Some Tasmanian fishes. Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania 1896: 69-85 [74] [description given in passing in comparison with Mugil dobula and was probably based on literature information rather than specimens and probably a misspelling of Mugil oeur Rüppell, 1838].
Type data:
Status unknown, whereabouts unknown, Moreton Bay, QLD.
Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy
- Thomson, J.M. 1954. The Mugilidae of Australia and adjacent seas. Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 5(1): 70-131 figs 1-16 pls 1-2 [91]
- Thomson, J.M. 1997. The Mugilidae of the world. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 41(3): 457-562 fig. 1 [483]
Introduction
Genetic studies have indicated that, as currently recognised, Mugil cephalus is a composite of isolated genetically distinct forms that probably should be treated as species (see Crosetti et al. 1994; Heras et al. 2009; Whitfield et al. 2012; Durand et al. 2012). Numerous names are available from the Indo-Pacific region and the precise geographical distribution of the various forms has not been resolved. Consequently it is not clear which name would apply to the Australian species. Some genetic studies have indicated that more than one species may be present in Australia (Durand et al. 2012)
Distribution
States
New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia
Extra Distribution Information
Horn Island, QLD (10°38´S) to Kimberley region, WA (126°35´E) and Bass Strait, TAS; tropical, temperate, circumglobal, frequently entering lower freshwater reaches of rivers.
IBRA
NSW, Qld, SA, Tas, Vic, WA: Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Carnarvon (CAR), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Dampierland (DL), Esperance Plains (ESP), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Flinders (FLI), Gawler (GAW), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Jarrah Forest (JF), Kanmantoo (KAN), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Naracoorte Coastal Plain (NCP), Northern Kimberley (NK), NSW North Coast (NNC), Pilbara (PIL), Sydney Basin (SB), South East Coastal Plain (SCP), South East Corner (SEC), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Victorian Volcanic Plain (VVP), Warren (WAR), Wet Tropics (WT), Yalgoo (YAL)
IMCRA
Norfolk Island Province (21), Northwest Shelf Transition (26), Northwest Shelf Province (27), Central Western Shelf Transition (28), Central Western Shelf Province (29), Southwest Shelf Transition (30), Southwest Shelf Province (31), Great Australian Bight Shelf Transition (32), Spencer Gulf Shelf Province (33), Western Bass Strait Shelf Transition (34), Bass Strait Shelf Province (35), Southeast Shelf Transition (37), Central Eastern Shelf Province (38), Central Eastern Shelf Transition (39), Northeast Shelf Province (40), Northeast Shelf Transition (41)
Distribution References
- Hitchcock, G., Finn, M.A., Burrows, D.W., & Johnson, J.W. 2012. Fishes from fresh and brackish waters of islands in Torres Strait, far north Queensland. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 56(1): 14-24 [17]
- Hutchins, J.B. 1997. Checklist of fishes of the Houtman Abrolhos Islands, Western Australia. pp. 239-253 in Wells, F. (ed.). The Marine Fauna and Flora of the Houtman Abrolhos Islands, Western Australia. Perth : Western Australian Museum. [250]
- Hutchins, J.B. 2003. Checklist of marine fishes of the Dampier Archipelago, Western Australia. pp. 453-478 in Wells, F.E., Walker, D.I., & Jones, D.S. (eds). Proceedings of the Eleventh International Marine Biological Workshop: The Marine Flora and Fauna of Dampier, Western Australia. Perth : Western Australian Museum. [471]
- Johnson, J.W. 2010. Fishes of the Moreton Bay Marine Park and adjacent continental shelf waters, Queensland, Australia. pp. 299-353 in Davie, P.J.F. & Phillips, J.A. Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Marine Biological Workshop, The Marine Fauna and Flora of Moreton Bay. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 54(3) [311]
- Morgan, D.L. & Gill, H.S. 2004. Fish fauna in inland waters of the Pilbara (Indian Ocean Drainage Division) of Western Australia – evidence for three subprovinces. Zootaxa 636: 1-43 [Date published 10 Sept 2004] [7]
Ecological Descriptors
Estuary, freshwater, inshore, mud bottom-marine, pelagic, sand bottom marine.
Extra Ecological Information
Predominantly estuarine and marine, but extends several kilometres inland in rivers.
General References
Crosetti, D., Nelson, W.S. & Avise, J.C. 1994. Pronounced genetic structure of mitochondrial DNA among populations of the circumglobally distributed grey mullet (Mugil cephalus). Journal of Fish Biology 44: 47-58 figs 1-2
Durand, D., Shen, K.-N., Chen, W.-J., Jamandre, B.W., Blel, H., Diop, K., Nirchio, M., Garcia de León, F.J., Whitfield, A.K., Chang, C.-W. & Borsa, P. 2012. Systematics of the grey mullets (Teleostei: Mugiliformes: Mugilidae): Molecular phylogenetic evidence challenges two centuries of morphology-based taxonomy. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 64(1): 73-92
Gomon, M.F. 2008. Family Mugilidae. pp. 390-394 in Gomon, M.F., Bray, D.J. & Kuiter, R.H. (eds). Fishes of Australia's Southern Coast. Sydney : Reed New Holland 928 pp. [393]
Harrison, I.J. & Senou, H. 1999. Order Mugiliformes. pp. 2069-2790 in Carpenter, K.E. & Niem, T.H. (eds). The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. Rome : FAO Vol. 4 pp. 2069-2790. [2096]
Heras, S., Roldán, M.I. & Castro, M.G. 2009. Molecular phylogeny of Mugilidae fishes revised. Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries 19(2): 217–231 [223]
Kuiter, R.H. 1994. Family Mugilidae. pp. 659-664, figs 578-581 in Gomon, M.F., Glover, C.J.M. & Kuiter, R.H. (eds). The Fishes of Australia's South Coast. Adelaide : State Printer 992 pp. 810 figs. [662]
McCulloch, A.R. 1929. A check-list of the fishes recorded from Australia. Part I. Memoirs of the Australian Museum 5: 1–144 [114] (also as Mugil marginalis and p. 116, as Mugil mulleri)
Munro, I.S.R. 1961. Handbook of Australian fishes. Nos 1–42. Australian Fisheries Newsletter 15–17, 19, 20: 1-172 [published as separates 1956–1961] [103] (705)
Thomson, J.M. 1954. The Mugilidae of Australia and adjacent seas. Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 5(1): 70-131 figs 1-16 pls 1-2
Thomson, J.M. 1996. Family Mugilidae. pp. 191-197 in McDowall, R.M. (ed.). Freshwater Fishes of South-eastern Australia. Sydney : Reed Books 247 pp. [193]
Thomson, J.M. 1997. The Mugilidae of the world. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 41(3): 457-562 fig. 1
Whitfield, A.K., Panfili, J. & Durand, J.-D. 2012. A global review of the cosmopolitan flathead mullet Mugil cephalus Linnaeus 1758 (Teleostei: Mugilidae), with emphasis on the biology, genetics, ecology and fisheries aspects of the apparent species complex. Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries 22: 641-681
Whitley, G.P. 1964. A survey of Australian Ichthyology. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 89(1): 11-127 [39] (652 as Mugil dobula)
Common Name References
Gomon, M.F., Glover, C.J.M. & Kuiter, R.H. (eds) 1994. The Fishes of Australia's South Coast. Adelaide : State Printer 992 pp. 810 figs. [663] (Poddy Mullet, Striped Mullet)
Grant, E.M. 1991. Fishes of Australia. Brisbane : EM Grant Pty Ltd 480 pp. [281] (Sea Mullet)
Harrison, I.J. & Senou, H. 1999. Order Mugiliformes. pp. 2069-2790 in Carpenter, K.E. & Niem, T.H. (eds). The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. Rome : FAO Vol. 4 pp. 2069-2790. [2096] (Flathead Mullet)
Hutchins, J.B. & Swainston, R. 1986. Sea Fishes of Southern Australia. Complete field guide for anglers and divers. Perth : Swainston Publishing 180 pp. [663] (Hardgut River Mullet)
Last, P.R., Scott, E.O.G. & Talbot, F.H. 1983. Fishes of Tasmania. Hobart : Tasmanian Fisheries Development Authority 563 pp. figs. [403] (Grey Mullet)
Marshall, T.C. 1964. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coastal Waters of Queensland. Sydney : Angus & Robertson 566 pp. 136 pls. [409] (Sand Mullet)
Prokop, F. 2002. Australian Fish Guide. Croydon South, Victoria : Australian Fishing Network 256 pp. [110] (Bully, Hard-gut Mullet, Poddies)
Seafood Services Australia 2008. Australian Fish Names Standard. http://www.fishnames.com.au/. (Sea Mullet)
Yearsley, G.K., Last, P.R. & Ward, R.D. (eds) 1999. Australian Seafood Handbook. Hobart : CSIRO Marine Research 460 pp. [191] (Bully Mullet, Hardgut Mullet, Mangrove Mullet, River Mullet)
History of changes
| Published | As part of group | Action Date | Action Type | Compiler(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13-Apr-2015 | MUGILIFORMES | 20-May-2014 | MODIFIED | Dr Doug Hoese |
| 21-Nov-2011 | MODIFIED |