Mugil curema Valenciennes 1836

Extant specimens: MCUC ZOO.0000039 (Fig. 20).

Classification on the specimen: “P. Abd. Mugil cephalus ”.

Common names on the specimen (Portuguese/Tupi): “Tainha”/ “Curemá ”.

Comments: This species was undescribed at the time Veloso prepared it. The herborized specimens of the genus Mugil are here tentatively identified, as the taxonomy of the southwestern Atlantic species of the genus is complex. The specimen was originally identified as Mugil cephalus Linnaeus 1758, and this same name is used in a description in Veloso’s Ichthyologia Fluminensis. Twenty herborized specimens are listed in the Ajuda’s inventory (Ferreira 1794), and two specimens of Mugil cephalus were transferred to the University of Coimbra, one of which can be this specimen. No specimen of Mugil appears in the transference list to the Lisbon Academy of Sciences. Tainha and Parati (see below) are common names still used to refer to Mugil species. Mugil curema occurs in Western Atlantic from Nova Scotia (Canada) to Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil).