Fantail Mullet

Mugil trichodon Poey 1875

Mugil trichodon Poey 1875 . Fantail Mullet; Liza, Lisa Amarilla, Lisa de Abanico Vouchers: Not available. Distribution: Western Atlantic Ocean; from Florida, USA, and Bermuda to southern Brazil; entering estuaries and littoral lagoons and ascending river courses; (Nicaragua) WK, KP and Es (Atlantic); 0–5 masl; Per, Dia, Amp. Occurrence and conservation status: Nat; LC (2019), population trend unknown. Literature: Villa (1982: 208; detailed description, including illustrations and an identification key, and information on distribution and ecology) and Robertson & Van Tassell (2019: 3866; detailed description, including illustrations, and information on distribution, with a map, and ecology).

Continental fishes of Nicaragua: diversity, distribution and conservation status; with an annotated and illustrated checklist of species and an identification guide to families

description

Description. Morphometric data presented in Table 13. Maximum examined body length 213 mm SL. Body elongate, compressed and moderately deep compared to congeners. Greatest body depth at vertical through spinous dorsal-fin origin. Dorsal profile of head and body convex along tip of snout, slightly convex from vertical through anterior border of orbit to spinous dorsal-fin origin, straight from this point to soft dorsal-fin origin, slightly convex from this point to caudal peduncle, slightly concave along caudal peduncle. Ventral profile of head and body convex from tip of lower jaw to termination of base of anal fin, straight to slightly concave from this point to vertical through caudal-fin base. Orbital diameter much larger than snout length. Eye covered with adipose tissue, except for narrow oval-shaped central area in adult specimens. Adipose tissue almost absent in specimens smaller than 30 – 35 mm SL. Anterior spinous dorsal fin with 4 slender spines connected by membrane, n = 17. Spinous dorsal fin-origin about midway between snout tip and caudal-fin base. Posterior soft dorsal-fin rays ii, 6, in specimens smaller than 30 – 35 mm SL, i, 7 in adults, n = 17. Unbranched pectora

Taxonomic review of the species of Mugil (Teleostei: Perciformes: Mugilidae) from the Atlantic South Caribbean and South America, with integration of morphological, cytogenetic and molecular data

diagnosis

Diagnosis. Mugil trichodon differs from congeners from the study area except M. curvidens and M. liza in having the anal fin with 3 spines and 8 branched rays in adults or 2 spines, 1 unbranched ray and 8 branched rays in juveniles (vs. 3 spines and 9 – 10 branched rays in adults or 2 spines, 1 unbranched ray and 9 – 10 branched rays in juveniles). Mugil trichodon is distinguished from M. curvidens by the presence of slightly curved teeth on upper jaw, 1 unbranched ray and 7 branched rays in the second (soft) dorsal fin in adults or 2 unbranched and 6 branched rays in juveniles (vs. teeth on upper jaw strongly cruved, 1 unbranched ray and 8 branched rays in adults or 2 unbranched rays and 7 branched rays in juveniles) and from M. liza in having the second dorsal and the anal fins scaled except distally (vs. second dorsal and anal fins with the scales restricted to an anterior basal portion and a single, sometimes incomplete posterior basal portion).

Taxonomic review of the species of Mugil (Teleostei: Perciformes: Mugilidae) from the Atlantic South Caribbean and South America, with integration of morphological, cytogenetic and molecular data

discussion

Discussion. The results obtained herein indicate that one of the problems involving mugilid taxonomy is related to previous identification of widely distributed species based on the assumption that morphological characters are very similar across the family (Thomson, 1997). However, given that most, if not all, the species live in coastal waters and are strongly dependent on local low salinity for growth and gonad maturation before moving off-shore to spawn and returning to coastal lagoons and other estuarine water bodies (Marin et al., 2003; González- Castro et al., 2011), it seemed unlikely that they would undertake the extensive migrations and have intense gene flow among populations from distant areas, which is prerequisite for the existence of single species in different portions of the world oceans. The best example is Mugil brevirostris (Ribeiro) recognized in the present paper as a species found along the Brazilian coast instead of Mugil hospes Jordan & Culver (not Jordan and Cuvier as it appears in Harrison, 2003), a species originally described from the Pacific Ocean (Sinaloa, Mexico) and that was previously applied to this population (Thomson, 1997; Harrison, 2003), simp

Taxonomic review of the species of Mugil (Teleostei: Perciformes: Mugilidae) from the Atlantic South Caribbean and South America, with integration of morphological, cytogenetic and molecular data