Leaping mullet

{{Short description|Species of fish}} {{Speciesbox | image = Liza_saliens1.jpg | status = NT | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name = IUCN>{{cite iucn |author=Ford, M. |year=2024 |title=''Chelon saliens'' |volume=2024 |article-number=e.T135681A137347404 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2024-2.RLTS.T135681A137347404.en |access-date=5 March 2025}}</ref> | taxon = Chelon saliens | authority = ([[Antoine Risso|Risso]], 1810)<ref name=EoL>{{EOL|206065|''Chelon saliens''}}</ref> | synonyms = {{species list |Liza saliens |(Risso, 1810) |Liza saliens furcata |Popov, 1930 |Mugil saliens |Risso, 1810 |Mugil verselata |[[Giovanni Domenico Nardo|Nardo]], 1847}} | synonyms_ref = <ref>{{cite WoRMS |author= Bailly, Nicolas|year= 2017|title= ''Chelon saliens'' (Risso, 1810)|id= 126981|access-date=26 April 2024}}</ref> }}

The '''leaping mullet''' (''Chelon saliens'') is a [[species]] of [[fish]] in the family [[Mugilidae]]. It is found in coastal waters and [[estuaries]] in the northeast Atlantic, ranging from [[Morocco]] to France, and including the [[Mediterranean]] and [[Black Sea]]. It has been introduced to the [[Caspian Sea]].<ref name = IUCN/>

==Description== The leaping mullet is greyish brown above and silvery beneath, with golden reflections on the flank. The fins are orangish-brown.<ref name=Casp>{{usurped|1=[https://archive.today/20130703212649/http://www.caspianenvironment.org/biodb/eng/fishes/Liza%20saliens/main.htm Caspian Environment Programme]}}</ref>

==Distribution== [[File:Meeräsche.jpg|thumbnail|left|Leaping mullet]] The leaping mullet is found in shallow coastal areas of the northeastern [[Atlantic Ocean]], as far north as the [[Bay of Biscay]], and the [[Mediterranean Sea]]. It also occurs in the [[Black Sea]] and [[Sea of Azov]], and it was [[Introduced species|introduced]] into the [[Caspian Sea]] in the 1930s and has become established in both.<ref name=Casp/>

==Biology== The leaping mullet breeds in the summer. Between five hundred and two thousand eggs are produced and fertilisation is external. The eggs are [[Pelagic zone|pelagic]] and include a large oil drop. The newly hatched fry feed get their nourishment from the [[yolk sac]] and grow rapidly. Juveniles feed on [[zooplankton]] at first and then [[benthic]] organisms. Males are mature at three years while females are mature in four. The adults are [[detrivores]] which, in addition to feeding on sand, also eat algae and vegetable matter.<ref name=EoL/><ref name=Casp/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

[[Category:Chelon|leaping mullet]] [[Category:Fish of the Atlantic Ocean]] [[Category:Fish of the Mediterranean Sea]] [[Category:Fish of the Black Sea]] [[Category:Marine fish of West Africa]] [[Category:Fish described in 1810|leaping mullet]]