flathead grey mullet
Mugil cephalus Linnaeus, 1758
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Flathead grey mullet (Mugil cephalus), Arrábida National Park, Portugal
Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The striped mullet (Mugil cephalus) is an important food fish species in the mullet family Mugilidae. It is found in coastal temperate, subtropical, and tropical waters worldwide. Its length is typically 30 to 75 centimetres (12 to 30 in). It is known with numerous English names, including the flathead mullet, flathead grey mullet, striped mullet, black mullet, bully mullet, common mullet, grey mullet, sea mullet, and mullet.
The striped mullet is a mainly diurnal coastal species that often enters estuaries and rivers. It usually schools over sand or mud bottoms, feeding on zooplankton, dead plant matter, microalgae, and detritus. The adult fish normally feed on algae in fresh water. The species is euryhaline, meaning they can acclimate to different levels of salinity.
Wikipedia contributors, Flathead grey mullet; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T09:02:57.414667+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Mugil cephalus Linnaeus, 1758
- Name authority
- Linnaeus, 1758
- Common name
- flathead grey mullet
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Mugiliformes
- Family
- Mugilidae
- Genus
- Mugil
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: yes · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderMugiliformes
- familyMugilidae Jarocki, 1822
- genusMugil Linnaeus, 1758
- speciesMugil cephalus Linnaeus, 1758
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Mugil. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Mugil bananensis (Pellegrin, 1927) | MugilidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Mugil brevirostris (Ribeiro, 1915) | MugilidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Mugil capurrii (Perugia, 1892) | MugilidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| blue-black mulletMugil curema Valenciennes, 1836 | MugilidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Mugil curvidens Valenciennes, 1836 | MugilidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Mugil galapagensis Ebeling, 1961 | MugilidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Mugil margaritae Menezes, Nirchio, Oliveira & Siccharamirez, 2015 | MugilidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| liseta mulletMugil setosus Gilbert, 1892 | MugilidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Mugil broussonnetii Valenciennes, 1836 | MugilidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| hospe mulletMugil hospes Jordan & Culver, 1895 | MugilidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Mugil incilis Hancock, 1830 | MugilidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| lizaMugil liza Valenciennes, 1836 | MugilidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. Laurentii Salvii. Holmiae [Stockholm]. [iii] + 824 pp. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.542 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:44J42. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.