mullet, blunt-nosed, tropical and temperate water fishes of the family Mugilidae, found worldwide. Small schools of mullets frequent shallow waters, feeding on aquatic plants and on mud, which is ground up in the gizzardlike stomach. The striped mullet, or flathead gray mullet, Mugil cephalus, is quite common, a bluish fish that attains a weight of 1 lb (0.45 kg). Mullets are good food fish, prized for their flesh and roe, and are preyed upon heavily by larger carnivorous fishes. The red mullets, or surmullets, are unrelated species of the family Mullidae. Mullets are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Actinopterygii, order Mugiliformes, family Mugilidae.
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