Biology:South African mullet
| South African mullet | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Mugiliformes |
| Family: | Mugilidae |
| Genus: | Chelon |
| Species: | C. richardsonii
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| Binomial name | |
| Chelon richardsonii (A. Smith, 1846)
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| Synonyms[1] | |
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The South African mullet (Chelon richardsonii), also called a harder mullet or simply harder, is a species of mullet. It is found in South African coastal waters from Walvis Bay (Namibia) to KwaZulu-Natal, and grows to a maximum length of 40.5 cm (15.9 in).[2] The person the specific name honours was not recorded by Andrew Smith when he described this species but it is most likely to be John Richardson (1787-1865), the Scottish naturalist, surgeon and Arctic explorer.[3]
It is also found inland in the waters of the Olifants River (Western Cape).[4]
Local delicacy in South Africa
Mullet fish caught in the sea and estuaries of the West Coast region are processed by salting and air-drying into bokkoms by small local factories around Velddrif and Laaiplek.[4]
See also
- The common name "harder mullet" in Germany refers to the flathead mullet, Mugil cephalus.[2]
- USS Harder (SS-257), a famous World War II era naval submarine that was named after the fish.
References
- ↑ Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron; van der Laan, Richard, eds. "Mugil richardsonii". California Academy of Sciences. http://researcharchive.calacademy.org/research/ichthyology/catalog/fishcatget.asp?spid=33595.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2006). "Chelon richardsonii" in FishBase. May 2006 version.
- ↑ "Order MUGILIFORMES (Mullets)". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. 17 September 2022. http://www.etyfish.org/mugiliformes/.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Tayla Susan Louw (August 2020). An exploration of the post-harvest activities of the Olifants Estuary Small-Scale Fishery: Recommendations for equitable market access and beneficiation (Thesis). University of Cape Town.
Template:Mulletfish Wikidata ☰ Q46638567 entry
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