Why Do Mullet Jump Out Of The Water? Explained (Sorta)! 

If you’ve spent any length of time near the beach or tidal estuaries, chances are you’ve seen the ubiquitous Striped Mullet (Mugil cephalus) splashing around on the surface.

Sometimes the whole school makes short hops all at once, and sometimes a lone individual will leap as high as 3 feet out of the water!

For as common as these slender silvery fish are, we still know shockingly little about the causes of this behavior.

And as it turns out, there may be multiple reasons why mullet jump and perform their daring acrobatics!

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Why Do Mullet Jump Out Of The Water?

The Truth is, scientists and fisheries experts are not entirely certain why mullet jump. The obvious answer is that they’re jumping to evade predators…

But other theories have emerged that jumping is a way to communicate, clean the skin, or even breathe air?

Are mullet on the run from predators?

Many species of bait fish commonly jump as a means to evade larger predators chasing them down.

This is true for mullet too- if you see the whole school jumping out of the water in a frenzy, there’s almost certainly a bigger fish in hot pursuit!

The more time a fish in the group spends above the waves, the more likely it is that one of its shoal mates gets eaten instead of it.

Why Do Mullet Jump Out Of The Water?

Anglers can use this knowledge to their advantage to land some huge fish. Topwater lures and natural baits can both be cast into the mass of jumping mullet to score a big bite!

If the school is close enough to shore or to your boat, a well-placed cast net throw can net your entire fishing party a day’s worth of quality bait.

On the U.S. East Coast, mullet are preyed upon by almost anything big enough to eat them, especailly during the annual mullet run each fall.

Using them as bait or casting a lure through a jumping shoal could land you fish such as redfish, black drum, seatrout, flounder, striped bass, sharks and more.

Mullet are found on many other coastlines as well, so check the web for information about what’s eating them in your local area!

So this explains what’s going on when a school of mullet are all jumping in concert.

But what about when a single fish is making a splash all by itself? There are several possible explanations for this as well.

Are mullet trying to clean their skin?

The ocean can be a dirty place, and fish parasites are an unfortunate but common occurrence, as anyone who’s filleted their catch only to find the flesh full of worms would know.

Many other species of fish have been shown to rub their bodies against hard structure and jump out of the water in an attempt to jostle skin parasites and knock them off.

They can be irritating to the fish, so this behavior is a lot like us humans scratching an itch.

While mullet have not been proven to engage in this behavior themselves, there’s no reason that this couldn’t be true.

Many seasoned anglers agree that while it’s just a theory, it’s certainly possible that mullet are part of the long list of species with an itch to scratch!

Are mullet using their splashes to communicate with each other?

One marine biologist, Dr. Richard “Grant” Gilmore of Vero Beach, FL, has his own theory on the mullet mystery.

He points out that mullet often swim in low-visibility water, such as the sand-filled surf zone and estuarine swamps stained by plant matter.

Could the mullet’s splashes be a way to let other mullet know of its presence? I know that here on the east coast of Florida, during the annual mullet run I see mullet of all sizes jumping along the beaches and river.

More research is in order before this hypothesis can be confirmed, but the mullet would not be the first fish to be shown to have such a complex form of communication.

It’s possible that different angles and jump heights could produce different sounding splashes, giving information on anything from the fish’s current position, where it’s going, or even the presence of predators!

Are mullet breathing air?

One of the few proper scientific studies done on the mullet’s aerial maneuvers was conducted by fish biologist H. Dickson Hoese in 1985.

Hoese found that mullet populations jumped more often when the water’s dissolved oxygen content was lower.

Mullet also have a special organ behind their gills (called the pharyngobranchial organ), and Hoese found that this organ was capable of holding gas within it.

These two pieces of evidence strongly point to the idea that mullet jump out of the water to “breathe” atmospheric oxygen when levels are low in the water!

Other fish, such as the Bowfin or invasive Northern Snakehead, breathe air in a similar way.

Final Thoughts

So, which one of these theories is the “true” reason that mullet jump?

Well, the answer is probably a little of all of them. Jumping probably first evolved in mullet as a way to evade predators, but these crafty little fish went on to find many more creative ways to use this newfound ability.

After all, why only jump for one reason when the behavior is useful in so many different ways?

So the next time you see a mullet showing off its flying skills, be sure to give a round of applause to the world’s most graceful baitfish.

Growing up in Florida, I’ve been surrounded by saltwater my entire life…and I love sharing my passion with others.

To learn more about why I started Saltwater Mecca, visit the ABOUT page.

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