Mullet

This fish has plenty of fans from Joe Exotic to Billy Ray Cyrus.

Mullet are predominantly a European species, with their range extending throughout the continent’s waters. They are common in the Mediterranean Sea and present in smaller numbers in the Black Sea. They generally inhabit salt water or brackish water and frequent shallow, inshore areas, commonly grubbing about in the sand or mud for microscopic plants, small animals, and other food.

Mullet are unusual in the range of food that makes up their diet. They feed primarily on organic matter which they take from the seabed. They will scoop seabed sediment and mud into their mouths and consume the small invertebrates and tiny benthic crustaceans and filter out the inedible items through their gills.

The mullet has an elongated body, but it is round like a tornado. Its body is covered with blue-grey or olive-green scales that are large and situated on the fish’s upper sides and back. The scales fade in colour to shades of silver on the belly and lower sides. They are keen to distance themselves with the popular 80’s hairstyle that adopts the same name.