Thick-lipped Mullet

Scientific name: Chelon labrosus (Risso, 1827)
Family: Mugilidae
Order: Mugiliformes
Class: Actinopterygii
Irish name: Lannach Glas
Irish angling record: 4.128kg (1993 Cork Harbour)
Native species: Yes
Hybrids: No

Identifying features

Back broad; head short and broad; small, triangular mouth; dorsal fins small, well separated, the first with four strong spines; tail fin forked; pelvics set some distance behind pectorals; large hard scales; no spines on head or gill-cover; greyish in colour with lengthwise dark streaks; upper lip thick, with papillae; its greatest depth more than half the diameter of the eye; jugular inter-space narrow and parallel when gills closed4.

Environment and Habitat

Marine species which occurs in brackish water from April to October; inhabits sea, estuary or river bottom; feeds in brackish and marine water and breed in the ocean (1; estuarine1; common in Irish coastal waters and estuaries; moves south in the winter and north in the summer around the European coast2;

European distribution

Eastern Atlantic: Scandinavia and Iceland.  Mediterranean Sea; southwestern Black Sea 65°N - 12°N, 24°W - 36°E;  Common on the Irish coast.

Economic value in Ireland

Some commercial value; important sea-angling species.

Red list status

Least concern

Irish legislation status

Unprotected

EU legislation status

Unprotected