Mullus Surmuletus/ Der Grosse Rothbart/ Le Surmulet/ The striped Surmulet

Title

Mullus Surmuletus/ Der Grosse Rothbart/ Le Surmulet/ The striped Surmulet

Description

Representation of a Striped Surmulet. Mullus surmuletus, the striped red mullet or surmullet, is a species of goatfish found in the Mediterranean Sea, eastern North Atlantic Ocean, and the Black Sea. They can be found in water as shallow as 5 metres or as deep as 409 metres depending upon the portion of their range that they are in. This species can reach a length of 40 centimetres SL though most are only around 25 centimetres . The greatest recorded weight for this species is 1 kilogram. This is a commercially important species and is also sought after as a game fish.

ca. 1785

Artist

Bloch/Hennig (1723-1799)

Markus Bloch was a German medical doctor and naturalist. He is generally considered one of the most important ichthyologists of the 18th century. Bloch is best known for his encyclopedic work in ichthyology. Between 1782 and 1795 he published his Allgemeine Naturgeschichte der Fische, a 12-volume, beautifully illustrated comprehensive work on fishes. The first three volumes describe fishes in Germany and were entitled Oeconomische Naturgeschichte der Fische Deutschlands, the remaining volumes dealt with fishes from other parts of the world and were entitled Naturgeschichte der ausländischen Fische. The publication was encouraged by a large subscription, and it passed rapidly through five editions in German and in French. To the number of genera before established, he found it necessary to add nineteen new ones, and he described 176 new species, many of them inhabitants of the remotest parts of the ocean, and by the brilliancy of their colours, or the singularity of their forms, as much objects of popular admiration as of scientific curiosity.