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South African mullet

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South African mullet
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Mugiliformes
Family: Mugilidae
Genus: Chelon
Species:
C. richardsonii
Binomial name
Chelon richardsonii
(A. Smith, 1846)
Synonyms[1]
  • Mugil richardsonii A. Smith, 1846
  • Liza richardsonii (A. Smith, 1846)
  • Mugil multilineatus A. Smith, 1846
Smoked mullet or harder.
Hanging bokkoms - whole, salted and dried mullet. Paternoster, Western Cape.

The South African mullet (Chelon richardsonii), also called a harder mullet or simply harder, is a species of mullet. It is found in South African coastal waters from Walvis Bay (Namibia) to KwaZulu-Natal, and grows to a maximum length of 40.5 cm (15.9 in).[2] The person the specific name honours was not recorded by Andrew Smith when he described this species but it is most likely to be John Richardson (1787-1865), the Scottish naturalist, surgeon and Arctic explorer.[3]

It is also found inland in the waters of the Olifants River (Western Cape).[4]

Local delicacy in South Africa

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Mullet fish caught in the sea and estuaries of the West Coast region are processed by salting and air-drying into bokkoms by small local factories around Velddrif and Laaiplek.[4]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Mugil richardsonii". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
  2. ^ a b Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Chelon richardsonii". FishBase. May 2006 version.
  3. ^ Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara (17 September 2022). "Order MUGILIFORMES (Mullets)". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. v. 4.0. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  4. ^ a b Tayla Susan Louw (August 2020). An exploration of the post-harvest activities of the Olifants Estuary Small-Scale Fishery: Recommendations for equitable market access and beneficiation (Thesis). University of Cape Town.