Higher Classification: > Kingdom Animalia > Subkingdom Eumetazoa > Phylum Chordata > Subphylum Vertebrata > Infraphylum Gnathostomata > Parvphylum Osteichthyes > Gigaclass Actinopterygii > Subclass Neopterygii > Class Teleostei > Order Mugiliformes > Family Mugilidae > Genus Mugil

Mugil cephalus Linnaeus, 1758

Rank: Species
Taxon Status: accepted

Relationships towards this taxon

Genus group names

*Mugil*	Linnaeus, 1758	accepted genus name

Vernaculars (+) (-)

Albanian: cumraku; cumri; gushtaku; qefulli i verës sources: Dhora, DH. 2008. Fjalor i emrave të kafshëve të Shqipërisë (Emri shkencor – Shqip – Anglisht) / Dictionary of animal names of Albania (Scientific names – Albanian – English). Camaj – Pipa. Shkodër, Albania. pp. 288.

Basque: korrokoi bizkarbeltz; lazuna

Breton: meilh bihen sources: Cabioch, L. (2008). Personal communication

Catalan: llissa llobarrera sources: Generalitat de Catalunya, Departament d'Agricultura, Ramaderia, Pesca, Alimentació i Medi Natural.

Corsican: mazzardu; muzaru

Dutch: grootkopharder; harder sources: VLIZ. (2016). Wetenschappelijke en handelsbenamingen voor visserij- en aquacultuurproducten op de Belgische markt. VLIZ Beleidsinformerende Nota's, BIN 2016_001. Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee: Oostende. 28 + Annex. pp.;Ann-Katrien Leskrauwaet

English: flathead grey mullet; flathead mullet; grey mullet; striped mullet sources: Wheeler, A. (1992). A list of the common and scientific names of fishes of the British Isles. J. Fish Biol. 41(Suppl. A): 1-37;Froese, R. & D. Pauly (Editors). (2025). FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. version (06/2024).;Davidson, A. (2001). North Atlantic fish cookbook [Noord-Atlantisch viskookboek]. Scepter: Bussum, The Netherlands. ISBN 90-72653-14-9. 556 pp.;North-West Atlantic Ocean species (NWARMS)

French: meuille; muge; muge cephale; mulet à grosse tête; mulet cabot; petit mulet gris sources: Davidson, A. (2001). North Atlantic fish cookbook [Noord-Atlantisch viskookboek]. Scepter: Bussum, The Netherlands. ISBN 90-72653-14-9. 556 pp.;Generalitat de Catalunya, Departament d'Agricultura, Ramaderia, Pesca, Alimentació i Medi Natural.;VLIZ. (2016). Wetenschappelijke en handelsbenamingen voor visserij- en aquacultuurproducten op de Belgische markt. VLIZ Beleidsinformerende Nota's, BIN 2016_001. Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee: Oostende. 28 + Annex. pp.;TermCat, The Center for Terminology.;Quéro J.C., 1984 - Les poissons de mer des pêches françaises - J. Grancher ed, 394 p

German: großkopf Meeräsche; Großkopfmeeräsche sources: VLIZ. (2016). Wetenschappelijke en handelsbenamingen voor visserij- en aquacultuurproducten op de Belgische markt. VLIZ Beleidsinformerende Nota's, BIN 2016_001. Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee: Oostende. 28 + Annex. pp.;PESI (A Pan-European Species directories Infrastructure) focal points

Greek: Κέφαλος sources: PESI (A Pan-European Species directories Infrastructure) focal points

Hebrew: קיפון בורי; קיפון גדול-ראש sources: PESI (A Pan-European Species directories Infrastructure) focal points

Italian: cefalo sources: Generalitat de Catalunya, Departament d'Agricultura, Ramaderia, Pesca, Alimentació i Medi Natural.

Lithuanian: didžiagalvė kefalė sources: PESI (A Pan-European Species directories Infrastructure) focal points

Polish: cefal pospolity sources: PESI (A Pan-European Species directories Infrastructure) focal points

Portuguese: curimã; fataca; mugem; tainha-olhalvo sources: Davidson, A. (2001). North Atlantic fish cookbook [Noord-Atlantisch viskookboek]. Scepter: Bussum, The Netherlands. ISBN 90-72653-14-9. 556 pp.

Romanian: chefal sources: PESI (A Pan-European Species directories Infrastructure) focal points

Russian: Кефаль лобан; лобан; черная кефаль sources: A.Boltachev & E. Karpova, IBSS NAS Ukraine;PESI (A Pan-European Species directories Infrastructure) focal points;Volvenko, I. V.; Orlov, A. M.; Gebruk, A. V.; Katugin, O. N.; Ogorodnikova, A. A.; Vinogradov, G. M.; Maznikova, O. A. (2019). Checklist of the trawl macrofauna from the North Pacific and adjacent seas with information about fishery importance, potential product yield, and price range, supplement to: Volvenko, Igor V; Orlov, Alexei M; Gebruk, Andrey V; Katugin, Oleg N; Ogorodnikova, Alla A; Vinogradov, Georgy M; Maznikova, Olga A (in prep.): Trawl macrofauna of the Far-Eastern Seas and North Pacific: proportion of commercial species, potential product yield, and price rang. Earth System Science Data. PANGAEA - Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science.

Slovenian: glavati cipelj sources: PESI (A Pan-European Species directories Infrastructure) focal points

Spanish, Castillian: lisa rayada; mújol; pardete sources: Nelson, J.S.; Crossman, E.J.; Espinosa-Pérez, H.; Findley, L.T.; Gilbert, C.R.; Lea, R.N.; Williams, J.D. (2004). Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States, Canada and Mexico Special Publication. American Fisheries Society, 29 American Fisheries Society: Bethesda. ISBN 1-888569-61-1. 386 + CD-Rom pp.;PESI (A Pan-European Species directories Infrastructure) focal points;Davidson, A. (2001). North Atlantic fish cookbook [Noord-Atlantisch viskookboek]. Scepter: Bussum, The Netherlands. ISBN 90-72653-14-9. 556 pp.

Turkish: has kefal sources: PESI (A Pan-European Species directories Infrastructure) focal points

Ukrainian: Кефаль лобань; Кефаль-лобан

Literature

original description	Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. [The system of nature through the three kingdoms of nature, according to classes, orders, genera, species, with characters, differences, synonyms, places.]. Impensis Direct. Laurentii Salvii. Holmiae [Stockholm]. 1(10) [iii], 824 p.
basis of record	van der Land, J.; Costello, M.J.; Zavodnik, D.; Santos, R.S.; Porteiro, F.M.; Bailly, N.; Eschmeyer, W.N.; Froese, R. (2001). Pisces, in: Costello, M.J. et al. (Ed.) (2001). European register of marine species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification. Collection Patrimoines Naturels, 50: pp. 357-374
additional source	Liu, J.Y. [Ruiyu] (ed.). (2008). Checklist of marine biota of China seas. China Science Press. 1267 pp.
additional source	Fricke, R., Eschmeyer, W. N. & Van der Laan, R. (eds). (2025). ECoF. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes: Genera, Species, References. California Academy of Sciences. San Francisco. Electronic version accessed dd mmm 2025.
additional source	McEachran, J. D. (2009). Fishes (Vertebrata: Pisces) of the Gulf of Mexico, Pp. 1223–1316 in: Felder, D.L. and D.K. Camp (eds.), Gulf of Mexico–Origins, Waters, and Biota. Biodiversity. Texas A&M Press, College Station, Texas.
additional source	Scott, W.B.; Scott, M.G. (1988). Atlantic fishes of Canada. Canadian Bulletin of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. No. 219. 731 pp.
additional source	King, C.M.; Roberts, C.D.; Bell, B.D.; Fordyce, R.E.; Nicoll, R.S.; Worthy, T.H.; Paulin, C.D.; Hitchmough, R.A.; Keyes, I.W.; Baker, A.N.; Stewart, A.L.; Hiller, N.; McDowall, R.M.; Holdaway, R.N.; McPhee, R.P.; Schwarzhans, W.W.; Tennyson, A.J.D.; Rust, S.; Macadie, I. (2009). Phylum Chordata: lancelets, fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals. in: Gordon, D.P. (Ed.) (2009). New Zealand inventory of biodiversity: 1. Kingdom Animalia: Radiata, Lophotrochozoa, Deuterostomia. pp. 431-554.
additional source	Welshman, D.; Kohler, S; Black, J.; and L. Van Guelpen. (2003). An atlas of distributions of Canadian Atlantic fishes.
additional source	Froese, R. & D. Pauly (Editors). (2025). FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. version (06/2024).
ecology source	Looby, A.; Erbe, C.; Bravo, S.; Cox, K.; Davies, H. L.; Di Iorio, L.; Jézéquel, Y.; Juanes, F.; Martin, C. W.; Mooney, T. A.; Radford, C.; Reynolds, L. K.; Rice, A. N.; Riera, A.; Rountree, R.; Spriel, B.; Stanley, J.; Vela, S.; Parsons, M. J. G. (2023). Global inventory of species categorized by known underwater sonifery. Scientific Data. 10(1).

Genbank

External Links

FishBase images (Mugil cephalus, Ryukyu Is., by Randall, J.E.)
FishBase

Citation

Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. (2025). FishBase. Mugil cephalus Linnaeus, 1758. Via: Costello, M.J.; Bouchet, P.; Boxshall, G.; Arvantidis, C.; Appeltans, W. (2011) European Register of Marine Species, Accessed through PESI at http://www.eu-nomen.eu/portal/taxon.php?GUID=urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:126983

Dr. Jorg Freyhof. Mugil cephalus Linnaeus, 1758. Accessed through: Fauna Europaea at https://portal.cybertaxonomy.org/fauna-europaea/cdm_dataportal/taxon/93add6fd-95f7-4329-8dff-f86541a09f70