Many members of the mullets (family Mugilidae) are very similar morphologically, hence the possibility of taxonomic misidentification. This study involved the use of skeleton structure to distinguish four species of mullets, including Cremugil crenilabis, Liza macrolepis, Moolgarda engelii, and Mugil cephalus, harvested from Aceh waters, Indonesia. The mullets samples were collected from 10 locations, and a total of 10 samples were taken randomly as representatives of each species. The skeletal sample was prepared using the dry method. The results showed the presence of 8 pairs of ribs in C. crenilabis and L. macrolepis, while M. engelii had 9, with 10 in M. cephalus. In addition, the origin of the haemal canal of C. crenilabis is at the 12th vertebrae, extends to the 23rd, while for the other three species it starts at the 10th and extends to the 23rd. In addition, C. crenilabis possesses 12 haemal canals, but the rest have 14. The haemal canal is present in the last precaudal vertebrae of all specimens, except C. crenilabis, whose epural bone in the caudal skeleton is small and located far from the preural, while a larger and distinctly attached form is observed in the rest. Furthermore, L. macrolepis possess a pair of diapophyses, which laterally extend in the 2nd vertebrae. This bone is absent in the three other species. The presence of diapophyses, the number of ribs and haemal canals and the location of the epural bone in the caudal skeleton, and the condition of frontal attachment to the sphenotic are the important characters in distinguishing the four investigated species of mullets.

中文翻译：

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骨骼结构作为识别印度尼西亚亚齐水域鲻鱼物种（Teleostei：Mugilidae）的分类工具

鲻鱼（鲻科）的许多成员在形态上非常相似，因此存在分类错误识别的可能性。这项研究涉及使用骨架结构来区分从印度尼西亚亚齐水域采集的四种鲻鱼，包括Cremugil crenilabis、Liza macrolepis、Moolgarda engelii和Mugil cephalus。鲻鱼样品采集自10个地点，共随机抽取10个样品作为每个物种的代表。骨骼样品采用干法制备。结果表明，C. crenilabis和L. macrolepis有 8 对肋骨，而M. engelii有 9 对，而M. cephalus有 10对肋骨. 此外，C. crenilabis 的血管起源于第 12 节椎骨，延伸至第 23 节，而其他 3 种则从第 10 节开始，延伸至第 23 节。此外，C. crenilabis有 12 根血管，其余有 14 根。除C. crenilabis的尾骨外，其尾骨的上皮骨小且远离前尾椎骨外，所有标本均有血管。 preural，而在其余部分中观察到更大且明显附着的形式。此外，L. macrolepis具有一对骨骺，在第二椎骨中横向延伸。其他三个物种中没有这种骨头。骨骺的存在、肋骨和血管管的数量以及尾骨在尾骨中的位置，以及额叶附着于蝶骨的情况是区分四种研究的鲻鱼的重要特征。