---
title: "Sea Mullet"
description: "Mugil cephalus — Fish. The striped mullet (Mugil cephalus) is an important food fish species in the mullet family Mugilidae."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/sea-mullet
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Sea Mullet

> Mugil cephalus — Fish. The striped mullet (Mugil cephalus) is an important food fish species in the mullet family Mugilidae.

- Scientific name: *Mugil cephalus*
- Category: `fish` (Fish)
- Habitats: `sea` (Sea & coast)
- iNaturalist observations: 9631
- Wikidata: [Q234014](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q234014)
- iNaturalist taxon: [106222](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/106222)

## Names

- en: Sea Mullet
- de: Großkopfmeeräsche
- es: Lisa rayada
- fr: Mulet à grosse tête
- pl: Cefal pospolity

## Countries with the most observations

US (3636), AU (478), JP (279), ES (197), MX (150), EC (146), NZ (145), HK (133), IT (107), TW (97), SG (92), KR (90)

## Summary

The striped mullet (Mugil cephalus) is an important food fish species in the mullet family Mugilidae. It is found in coastal temperate, tropical and subtropical waters worldwide.  Its length is typically 30 to 75 centimetres (12 to 30 in). It is known with numerous English names, including the flathead mullet, flathead grey mullet, striped mullet, black mullet, bully mullet, common mullet, grey mullet, sea mullet and mullet, among others.
The striped mullet is a mainly diurnal coastal species that often enters estuaries and rivers. It usually schools over sand or mud bottoms, feeding on zooplankton, dead plant matter…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flathead_grey_mullet

## Photo

![Sea Mullet](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/sea-mullet/medium.jpg)

Photo: Federico Biguzzi · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/118265233

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/sea-mullet?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).