Mullet (fish)

Mullets, also called grey mullets, make up the fish family Mugilidae. These ray-finned fish live in coastal temperate and tropical waters around the world, and a few species can be found in freshwater. People in Mediterranean Europe have relied on them as a key food source since Roman times, and in ancient Egypt, they were eaten pickled and dried under the name fesikh. The family contains roughly 78 species spread across 26 genera.

What sets mullets apart are two separate dorsal fins, a small triangular mouth, and the lack of a lateral line organ. They eat detritus, and most species have unusually muscular stomachs and a complex pharynx to help break down their food.

In terms of classification, the family sits in the order Mugiliformes, which takes its name from them. Until recently, Mugiliformes held only this family, but newer taxonomic work suggests mullets are closely related to the Asiatic glassfishes (Ambassidae), which are now also placed in the same order. The presence of fin spines clearly places mullets in the superorder Acanthopterygii. In the 1960s, they were considered primitive perciforms, while other experts grouped them with Atheriniformes.

In North America, "mullet" alone usually refers to Mugilidae. In Europe, the word is often qualified: "grey mullets" are Mugilidae, while "red mullets" or "surmullets" belong to the family Mullidae, especially the genus Mullus. Outside Europe, Mullidae are commonly called "goatfish." Fish with "mullet" in their common name might belong to either family, or even to an unrelated species like the freshwater *Catostomus commersonii*. Recent taxonomic work has reorganized the family, and the following genera make up the Mugilidae: [list of genera not provided in source, so omitted]. The oldest known fossil mullet is †*Mugil princeps* from the latest Oligocene-aged Aix-en-Provence Formation in France.

A common behavior in mullet is leaping out of the water. There are two distinct types of leaps: a straight, clean jump out of the water to escape predators, and a slower, lower jump where the fish turns onto its side, creating a larger, more noticeable splash. The reason for the lower jump is debated, but one hypothesis is that it helps the fish take in oxygen-rich air for gas exchange in a small organ above the pharynx.

The development of mullet larvae has been well studied, especially for *Mugil cephalus*, because of its wide distribution and importance to aquaculture. A 2021 study looked at the previously understudied osteological development of *Mugil cephalus*, describing four embryonic and six larval stages in both aquaculture-reared and wild-caught specimens. These descriptions clarified some uncertain features of adult mullets, revealed details that could affect phylogenetic hypotheses, and provided a needed baseline for comparing aquaculture-reared mullets to spot malformations.

Mullets have historical significance around the world, with records of consumption in ancient Rome and Egypt. Indigenous communities in Florida, Hawaii, and North Carolina also fished and ate mullet as far back as the 15th century. In the 19th century, early American commercial fishers dismissed mullet as a "trash fish" because of its low market value, and the fish fell out of fashion. In the 1960s, Florida state officials tried to revive mullet’s popularity through a marketing campaign that proposed renaming it "lisa."