Freshwater fishes of Israel; a revised and updated annotated checklist- 2023 Author Çiçek, Erdoğan Department of Biology, Faculty of Art and Sciences, Nevşehir Hacı BektaşVeli University, Nevşehir, Türkiye Author Fricke, Ronald Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde in Stuttgart, Rosenstein 1, 70191 Stuttgart, Germany Author Sungur, Sevil Health Services Vocational School, Nevşehir Hacı BektaşVeli University, Nevşehir, Türkiye Author Çapar, Osman Bahadir Faculty of Fisheries, Cukurova University, Türkiye Author Golani, Daniel Deparment of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel text Zootaxa 2023 2023-11-13 5369 4 451 484 https://www.mapress.com/zt/article/download/zootaxa.5369.4.1/52255 journal article 278560 10.11646/zootaxa.5369.4.1 8a95fa8d-aaf9-4550-9a5b-0e8408ecb1bd 1175-5326 10146651 62878FA8-7CC7-462C-9FBF-C9BAEF177855 Mugil cephalus Linnaeus, 1758 [N]—Flathead mullet; Kiphon buri Taxonomy. Original description: Mugil cephalus Linnaeus, 1758: 316 [European sea, Europe; syntypes : NRM 43 (1), 44 (2), 143 (1)].— Israel synonyms: None.—Revisions: Durand et al. (2012: 692) .—Illustration: Ben-Tuvia in Whitehead et al. (1986: 1202 , fig.). Status in Israel . First record from Israeli freshwater was by Yashouv & Brener (1961) ; confirmed by Goren & Ortal (1999: 4) , Golani & Mires (2000) .—Israel material: HUJ. Distribution and habitat. Distribution in Israel : Mediterranean watersheds.—Distribution in River Basin: 1- Western Basin, 3-Kinneret Basin.—General distribution: Nearly circumglobal in temperate and tropical seas and estuaries (including Gulf of Mexico, Mediterranean Sea, Sea of Marmara, Black Sea, Red Sea, Persian Gulf, Sea of Japan ); introduced elsewhere.—Distribution in Ecoregion: 436-Coastal Levant, 438- Jordan River.—Habitat: This species is a euryhaline, pelagic nearshore species that sometimes forage in lagoons, estuaries, and lower courses of rivers and can tolerate freshwater. It inhabits inshore marine waters, estuaries, lagoons, and rivers, where it can tolerate wide ranges of temperature and salinity. Freshwater, brackish, marine. Economic importance. Commercially important. Conservation. Conservation status in Israel : Unknown.—IUCN: LC ( IUCN 2023 ).—Threats: No major threats known.—Low sensitivity to human activities.—Not considered a keystone species.—Decline status: Stable.—Low priority for conservation action. Remarks. This species is naturally found in Mediterranean watersheds. Its fingerlings stocked annually in Lake Kinneret and in fish farms.