Mugil cephalus Linnaeus, 1758

Çiçek, Erdoğan, Fricke, Ronald, Sungur, Sevil, Çapar, Osman Bahadir & Golani, Daniel, 2023, Freshwater fishes of Israel; a revised and updated annotated checklist- 2023, Zootaxa 5369 (4), pp. 451-484 : 473

Mugil cephalus Linnaeus, 1758 [N]—Flathead mullet; Kiphon buri

Taxonomy. Original description: Mugil cephalus Linnaeus, 1758: 316 [European sea, Europe; syntypes: NRM 43 (1), 44 (2), 143 (1)].— Israel synonyms: None.—Revisions: Durand et al. (2012: 692).—Illustration: Ben-Tuvia in Whitehead et al. (1986: 1202, fig.).

Status in Israel. First record from Israeli freshwater was by Yashouv & Brener (1961); confirmed by Goren & Ortal (1999: 4), Golani & Mires (2000).—Israel material: HUJ.

Distribution and habitat. Distribution in Israel: Mediterranean watersheds.—Distribution in River Basin: 1- Western Basin, 3-Kinneret Basin.—General distribution: Nearly circumglobal in temperate and tropical seas and estuaries (including Gulf of Mexico, Mediterranean Sea, Sea of Marmara, Black Sea, Red Sea, Persian Gulf, Sea of Japan); introduced elsewhere.—Distribution in Ecoregion: 436-Coastal Levant, 438- Jordan River.—Habitat: This species is a euryhaline, pelagic nearshore species that sometimes forage in lagoons, estuaries, and lower courses of rivers and can tolerate freshwater. It inhabits inshore marine waters, estuaries, lagoons, and rivers, where it can tolerate wide ranges of temperature and salinity. Freshwater, brackish, marine.

Economic importance. Commercially important.

Conservation. Conservation status in Israel: Unknown.—IUCN: LC ( IUCN 2023).—Threats: No major threats known.—Low sensitivity to human activities.—Not considered a keystone species.—Decline status: Stable.—Low priority for conservation action.

Remarks. This species is naturally found in Mediterranean watersheds. Its fingerlings stocked annually in Lake Kinneret and in fish farms.