- Mugil cephalus, commonly known as the striped mullet, is an euryhaline fish that is cultured alone or with other fish species like tilapia. - Grey mullet has been farmed for centuries in extensive and semi-intensive ponds in places like the Mediterranean, Southeast Asia, and Egypt. - Major producing countries include Italy, Israel, Egypt, Mexico, Peru, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Mullet is found worldwide in coastal waters except for some regions in the Americas.

1. Presented by- Jyoti Saroj
Department.- Fisheries Resource Management
College of Fisheries, Veraval

2.  Mugil cephalus is commonly known as striped
mullet.
 It is a euryhaline fish, cultured either alone or in
combination with other fishes such as
Tilapia/Milk fish/Pearl spot/Chinese carp.

3.  Grey mullet has been farmed for centuries in
extensive and semi-intensive ponds.
 Subsistence farming in ponds and enclosures has
been traditional in the Mediterranean region, South
East Asia, Taiwan Province of China, Japan and
Hawaii.
 Since the early 1960s, flathead grey mullet has also
been cultured in semi-intensive ponds with tilapia
and carps in Egypt.
 This species was first introduced to be cultured with
carp in Israel in 1957.

4. • Italy
• Israel
• Egypt
• Mexico
• Peru
• Hong kong
• Singapore
• Greece
• Taiwan province of China

5. • Mugil cephalus is cosmopolitan in the coastal
waters.
• It is found from Nova Scotia, Canada south to
Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico and absent
in the Bahamas and the Caribbean Sea.
• The flathead grey mullet is catadromous.
• Flathead grey mullet is a diurnal feeder,
consuming mainly zooplankton, dead plant
matter and detritus.
• Mullet have thick-walled gizzard-like segments
in their stomach.

7.  The sexes are separate. Males are generally smaller and
slender whereas, in females belly shall be distended and
swollen during spawning season.
 In India Mugil cephalus breeds during the post monsoon
period.
 Absolute fecundity of Mugil cephalus in India is
13,20,000 and relative fecundity is 849 eggs/g body
weight.

8. • Collected from river mouths, tidal streams, tidal
creeks, swamps and tidal flats.
• In India, the fry of Mugil cephalus are restricted
to the period from June to August.
• The early mullet fry are collected using dip nets,
hapa nets and closed-meshed seines during high
tides.

9. • Large numbers of sexually mature individuals are
kept under optimum environmental conditions.
• Ripe fish are selected and placed in plastic or
fibreglass tanks filled with seawater.
• Male:Female ratio 2–3:1 shortly before
spawning.

10. • Females are injected by pituitary gonadotropin.
Females spawn after 12 hours.
• Eggs are produced at a rate of 650–850/g body
weight.
• Hatching takes place after 50-64 hrs .

11.  After acclimatization, fry are stocked in earthen
nurseries at high densities, where they depend
mainly on natural food.
 Fry are kept in the nursery ponds for 4–6 months.
 Stocking density 30,000/ha in nursery pond.
 Rice or wheat bran is sometimes used as an
additional source of food.

12. • Grey mullet are usually culture in poly culture in
semi-intensive pond with common carp, grass
carp, silver carp, tilapia and milk fish
• Intensive polyculture of mullets along with
Chinese carps is carried out in Honkong.
• Mullet fingerlings stocked @ 10,000-15,000/ha
and Chinese carp fingerlings stocked @ 1000-
2000/ha

13.  Rice or wheat bran added daily in amount of
0.5-1 % of biomass
 Growing season is normally about 7-8 months.
After 7-8 months mullet reach 75-1 kg.

14. • Monoculture : Natural foods, grain mills
and rice polishing plants.
• Polyculture: Extruded pellets are used in
feed for Tilapia and Common carp

15.  Using gill nets.
 Seine nets.
 Total drain harvesting.

17. • Modified estuaries are called Valli, produce
primarily eels but mullet are the principal crop
in the most advanced valli.
• Four Species are commonly stocked, according
to the season, largest and most valued species is
Mugil cephalus is found in the lagoon.

18.  Valli including all the 300-500 ha structures in
the venice area, located above the high tide line
and connected with sea, from which brackish
water pumped at high tide, creating an artificial
tide.
 The total annual yield of valli ranges from 90-
200kg/ha of fish.

19. • Mainly in West Bengal, Karnataka, Kerala and Goa.
• In monoculture stocking density is 6000no./ha
production rate is 1189-1200kg/ha/year.
• Mullet is cultured with pearl spot and milk fish in
south India
• Various species of shrimp often stocked in mullet.
• The net production in the grey mullet-milk fish
combination ranged between 1600 and 2189
kg/ha/year.

20.  Egypt is the largest producer country in
the mullet culture.
Sr.
No.
Year Production in tones
1. 1997 25600
2. 2003 147000

21.  Ergasilus lizae
 Caligus paget (Sea lice)
 Bacterial fin rot
 Saprolegnia infections
 Large scale natural mortalities occur during
nursery rearing.

22.  As aquaculture grey mullet depends largely on
collection of wild fry, it is affecting the resources
for capture fisheries.
 In countries where wild fry collection for
aquaculture practiced, social problems usually
result from the competition for resources
between fish farmers and fisherman.

23. • The grey mullet are polycultured with other
compatible species of fish and shrimps.
• Production average 2.0-2.5 tonns/ha/year
during 8-9 months grow out periods.
• Intensive farming is restricted due to non
availabilty hatchery seeds.
• Highly production comes from traditional
culture system such as Valli culture in Italy.
• Milk fish production is also very high in
combination with Mullet culture.

24. • T.V.R. Pillay and M. N. Kutty, Aquacultre
Principles and Practices, Page No.(417-423)
• Dr. P.C.Thomas, Dr. Suresh Ch. Rath, Dr.(Mrs)
Kanta Das Mohapatra, Breeding and Seed
Production of Fin Fish and Shell Fish, Page
No.(138-141)
• John E. Bardach, John H. Ryther, and William O.
McLarney, Aquaculture the Farming and
Husbandry of Freshwater and Marine Organisms,
Page No.(285-300)