mugil cephalus is produced in many seas and rivers, mainly lives on the shore, and can reach a length of 30 to 60 cm. It has edible value.

The body of mugil cephalus is stout, nearly cylindrical in front and flattened in back. The head is short, flat, with slightly raised sides. The snout is wide and short. The eyes are medium-sized, almost covered by a thick fat film, commonly known as white eyes. The distance between the eyes is wide and flat. There are 2 nostrils on each side, the front nostrils are round, and the back nostrils are slit-shaped. Mouth inferior, figure-eight-shaped, cleft small and flat, maxilla completely covered by preorbital bone, rear end not bent down, front end of mandible has a protrusion that fits into the opposite depression of maxilla. The teeth are thin and villous, and there are teeth in both upper and lower jaws. The gill opening is large, and the opercular membrane is not connected with the isthmus. The operculum of mugil cephalus5. False gills well developed. The gill rakers are fine and dense, 55-75+67-90. The body is covered with large round scales except the snout, and all the fins except the first dorsal fin are covered with small round scales. There is a long triangular petal-shaped scale on both sides of the base of the first dorsal fin, the axil of the pectoral fin, the upper part of the base of the pelvic fin, and the middle of the two pelvic fins. No lateral lines. There are columns of scales 42-43 on the side of the body.
mugil cephalus has two dorsal fins. The first dorsal fin consists of 4 spines, the first spine being the longest. The second dorsal fin has 1 spine and 8 rays, located above the anal fin. The anal fin has 3 spines and 8 rays, the second spine being the longest. The pectoral fins are high and broad, with 16-17 rays. The pelvic fin of mugil cephalus is located behind and below the pectoral fin, shorter than the pectoral fin, and consists of 1 spine and 5 fin rays. Caudal fin forked, upper lobe slightly longer than lower lobe, posterior margin deeply notched. Head and back of body black. Ventral white. There are 7 black vertical stripes on the upper half of the body, and the dorsal, pectoral and caudal fins are light gray.