Fish of the Chelon genus of the Mugilidae family of the Mugiliformes (Mullets) order of the Acanthopterygii superorder.
(Leaping mullet. Photo by © Citron. wikipedia.org)
Leaping mullet (Chelon saliens) was first described in 1810 by the French naturalist Antoine Risso (1777-1845).
The maximum recorded length is 40 cm; specimens up to 30 cm long are more common. This bottom schooling fish inhabits inshore waters, enters lagoons and estuaries. Adult individuals prefer to swim at the depths of more than 10 meters. It feeds on algae and detritus.
(Leaping mullet. Photo by © Dr B. Coad & Keyvan Abbasi. fishbase.org)
It is a permanent inhabitant of the Adriatic Sea.
Names of leaping mullet (Chelon saliens) in other languages are as follows:
Gasturi (Albanian), Илария (Ilarija) (Bulgarian), Γάστρος (Gástros) (Greek), Kifon haruz (Hebrew), Galúa (Spanish), Cefalo verzelata (Italian), Springmeeräsche (German), Mugil ostronosy (Polish), Tainha-de-salto (Portuguese), Ostreinos (Romanian), Остронос (Ostronos) (Russian), Cipol mržnjak, Cipal mržnjak (Serbian, Croatian), Dolgonosi cipelj, Dolgin (Slovenian), Çulara balığı (Turkish), Mulet sauteur (French).