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| fishes text index | photo index |
| Phylum Chordata > Subphylum Vertebrate > fishes |
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Mullets
Family Mugilidae updated Mar 11 Where
seen? This
tiny plump fish is commonly seen on many of our shores. Often in
small groups of 5 or so, in rock pools or pools in sandy areas.
They are probably juvenile mullets. Adults are often seen in schools
at high tide from boardwalks and jetties.
What are mullets? Mullets belong to Family Mugilidae. According to FishBase: the family has 17 genera and 72 species. They are found in tropical and temperate seas. Species can look very similar and are hard to tell apart in the field. Some can reach 90cm long. Features: On the intertidal, small juveniles 1-4cm, can be seen. Body long and cylindrical with a broad flat head and a small mouth. Two dorsal fins, wide apart from one another. Colour generally silvery, some with stripes. What do they eat? They feed by filtering large quantities of bottom detritus, to eat microscopic algae and other tiny organisms. They may have only tiny teeth or no teeth at all. Most are found in brackish coastal waters, in some, the juveniles are found in freshwater. Human uses: They are among the important fishes harvested for food with a wide variety of nets. |
 Adults seen from the boardwalk. Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, Feb 11 |
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Mullets on Singapore shores
 Chek Jawa, Mar 11 |
 Chek Jawa, Mar 11 |
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 Labrador, May 06 |
 Raffles Lighthouse, Jun 07 |
 St. John's Island, Sep 09 |
 East Coast Park, Jun 06 |
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 Sentosa, Jan 05 |
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| Family
Mugilidae recorded for Singapore from Wee Y.C. and Peter K. L. Ng. 1994. A First Look at Biodiversity in Singapore. *Lim, Kelvin K. P. & Jeffrey K. Y. Low, 1998. A Guide to the Common Marine Fishes of Singapore. Singapore Science Centre.
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Links
References
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Periplus Editions. 292 pp.|
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