Hawaii's Reef Fishes

Mullets

Striped Mullet Mugil cephalus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Mullets have moderately elongate bodies that are little-compressed except posteriorly; the head tends to be depressed, the interorbital space broad.

The mouth is small, terminal to slightly inferior, and usually shaped like an inverted V when viewed from the front; there is a fleshy median knob in the upper lip of most species; the teeth are absent or minute and set in the lips.

The intestine is very long; most mullets have a gizzard-like stomach. There are 2 well separated dorsal fins, the first of 4 spines. There is no distinct lateral line, but most scales of the body have a longitudinal groove.

Typically, mullets feed on fine algal and detrital material from either hard substratum or the surface of bottom sediments, retaining the food within their numerous fine gill rakers and expelling inorganic sediment from the gill openings. Some ingest algal scums from the surface.

Mullets are often seen in small schools. They are prone to leap free of the surface (hence may be difficult to catch in a seine). Two native species occur in Hawaiian waters. A third, the small Moolgarda engeli, was unintentionally introduced to Hawai'i in 1955 with a shipment of Marquesan sardines from Nuku Hiva.

The Striped Mullet, 'ama'ama (Mugil cephalus), was very important to the ancient Hawaiians; they had different names for the growth stages. Small juveniles (pua'ama'ama) were caught with nets along sandy shores and reared in ponds built with rock walls in shallow areas where there is freshwater drainage. This is still done in some areas today.

Sharpnose Mullet

Neomyxus leuciscus (Gunther, 1871) Uouoa

Silvery greenish gray dorsally, silvery on side and below with a small yellow spot at upper base of pectoral fins; body slender; snout pointed; no adipose eyelid; anal spines 3, soft rays 10. Rarely exceeds 12 inches (30 cm). Islands of Oceania. Occurs in small schools close to shore, over both rocky bottom and sand.

Striped Mullet

Mugil Cephalus (Linnaeus, 1758) 'Ama'ama

Silvery gray dorsally, silvery on sides, with faint gray-brown stripes following centers of scale rows; edge of caudal fin usually blackish; snout blunt; transparent adipose eyelid covering front and back of eye; anal spines 3, soft rays 8. Reports of lengths to 3 feet (29cm) seem exaggerated; any fish over 20 inches (50 cm) are unusual.

Circumglobal in subtropical to warm temperate seas; the possibility of different species or subspecies over this vast range warrants investigation.

All information and pictures in this section are from John E. Randall's Shore Fishes of Hawai'i by permission of the author.