| Red mullet | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Syngnathiformes |
| Family: | Mullidae |
| Genus: | Mullus |
| Red mullet species | |
Thered mullets orsurmullets are two species ofgoatfish,Mullus barbatus andMullus surmuletus, found in theMediterranean Sea, eastNorth Atlantic Ocean, and theBlack Sea. Both "red mullet" and "surmullet" can also refer to theMullidae in general.
Though they can easily be distinguished—M. surmuletus has a striped firstdorsal fin—their common names overlap in many of the languages of the region. In English,M. surmuletus is sometimes called thestriped red mullet. Despite the English name "red mullet", these fishes of the goatfish familyMullidae are not closely related to many other species called "mullet", which are members of the grey mullet familyMugilidae. The word "surmullet" comes from the French, and ultimately probably from a Germanic root "sor" 'reddish brown'.[1]
They are both favored delicacies in the Mediterranean, and in antiquity were "one of the most famous and valued fish". They are very similar, and cooked in the same ways.M. surmuletus is perhaps somewhat more prized.[2] Theancient Romans reared them in ponds where they were attended and caressed by their owners, and taught to come to be fed at the sound of the voice or bell of the keeper. Specimens were sometimes sold for their weight in silver.Pliny cites a case in which a large sum was paid for a single fish, and an extraordinary expenditure of time was lavished upon these slow-learning pets.Juvenal and other satirists descanted upon the height to which the pursuit of this luxury was carried as a type of extravagance.[3] The statesmanTitus Annius Milo, exiled toMarseille in 52 B.C., joked that he would have no regrets as long as he could eat the delicious red mullet of Marseille.
Claudius Aelianus in hisOn the Nature of Animals, writes that the species is sacred to the Greek agricultural goddessDemeter. "AtEleusis it [the Red Mullet] is held in honour by the initiated, and of this honour two accounts are given. Some say, it is because it gives birth three times in a year; others, because it eats theSea-Hare, which is deadly to man."[4] The red mullet was also significant in the cult of the witch goddessHecate.
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