Agonostomus was paraphyletic with respect to Joturus; A. monticola was phylogenetically closer to J. pichardi than both were from A. catalai (Fig. 1). At locus 16S, the nucleotide divergence between A. monticola (GenBank JQ060644–JQ060652) and A. catalai (GenBank JQ060643) was 13.3–13.5% (Kimura 2-parameter; MEGA 5 [49]) while the estimated divergence between A. telfairii (GenBank DQ532834) and A. catalai was 0.2%. Since A. telfairii, which is the type-species of the genus, is genetically closer to A. catalai than A. monticola, it is the latter that should be placed under a different genus name, namely Dajaus which is the earliest genus name available for A. monticola (Table 1). The genus Agonostomus under its present, revised definition exclusively occurs in the South-West Indian Ocean [11].

Aldrichetta was found it to be the sister subclade of Liza argentea; no taxonomic change is needed for Aldrichetta, which is monotypic [13]. The distribution of this genus is restricted to the temperate coastal waters of Australia and New Zealand [11].

The genus Cestraeus, represented by two species (C. goldiei and C. oxyrhinchus) in [1] was found to be monophyletic and a brother genus to Chaenomugil, Mugil, and (Agonostomus + Joturus); no taxonomic change is needed regarding Cestraeus because of its monophyly. The genus Cestraeus is present in the Indo-Malay-Papua archipelago, in New Caledonia and in Fiji [11].

This genus was found to be a brother genus to Cestraeus, Mugil and (Agonostomus + Joturus). No taxonomic change is needed for Chaenomugil, which is monotypic [13]. C. proboscideus, the only species in the genus, occurs in the eastern Pacific, from Baja California to Peru [11].

Chelon labrosus grouped with L. aurata, L. ramada, L. saliens, L. richardsonii, L. bandialensis, L. dumerili, Liza sp. (S. Africa) and L. tricuspidens to form a subclade (Fig. 2A), which turned out to exclusively comprise species distributed in Atlantic and Mediterranean waters or species apparently endemic to eastern southern Africa (L. tricuspidens, L. richardsonii and an apparently undescribed Liza sp. [1]). The other Chelon species sampled, all from the Indo-Pacific, formed a distinct subclade together with Indo-Pacific Liza spp. and Paramugil parmatus. All species in the ‘Atlantic’ subclade (Fig. 5A of [1]), which includes Chelon labrosus (the type species of the genus Chelon) should be placed under Chelon by the principle of priority (Table 1). The other Liza and Chelon species sampled should be placed under different genera (see below).

Crenimugil crenilabis (the type species of the genus Crenimugil; Table 1) grouped with Moolgarda seheli and Valamugil buchanani to form a distinct cluster within the (Crenimugil, Moolgarda, Valamugil) subclade (Fig. 2B). This well-supported lineage should be named Crenimugil because of the priority of the latter to Valamugil (Table 1), and because Moolgarda is both a nomen nudum and a nomen dubium [11]. The close evolutionary affinity of C. crenilabis with M. seheli and V. buchanani has previously been highlighted on the basis of shared morpho-anatomical characters ([10]; Fig. 3). We were unable to obtain a sample of C. heterocheilos, designated by Senou [10] as the type species of his genus Paracrenimugil. Based on the accuracy of the rest of Senou's [10] cladistic tree (Fig. 3), resurrecting the genus Paracrenimugil for C. heterocheilos is an eventuality that deserves consideration. The genus Crenimugil has a wide Indo-West Pacific distribution.

The genus Ellochelon was found to be the sister lineage of Oedalechilus labiosus. No taxonomic change is needed for Ellochelon, which is monotypic [13]. E. vaigiensis has a wide Indo-West Pacific distribution, from Natal to Tahiti [11].

The genus Joturus was the sister lineage of Agonostomus monticola. No taxonomic change is needed for Joturus, which is monotypic [13]. This genus is present on both the Pacific and the Atlantic coasts of the American continent, from Mexico to Panama, and in the Caribbean Sea [11].

The type species of the genus Liza is Mugil capito (currently L. ramada; [13]). The phylogenetic results of [1] imply that L. ramada be placed under genus Chelon, which in turn implies that Liza is a junior synonym of Chelon. Hence, the name Liza is now unavailable.

Liza argentea and L. falcipinnis were each distinct from the other Liza species, all of which clustered within a single clade (Fig. 1). The latter comprised Myxus capensis, Oedalechilus labeo, and three subclades: one that corresponds to L. grandisquamis, a second one that includes Chelon labrosus and all Liza spp. of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean (see above), and a third sub-clade that includes Chelon spp. and Liza spp. from the Indo-West Pacific only (namely, C. macrolepis, C. melinopterus, C. planiceps, C. subviridis, L. abu, L. affinis, L. alata, L. haematocheila, and Paramugil parmatus) (Fig. 2A). Liza argentea and L. falcipinnis each merit an individual genus name. Liza argentea was previously assigned to the genus Gracilimugil [36] and we here propose that this genus be resurrected for this species; L. falcipinnis should be assigned a new genus name since there does not seem to be any genus name available for that species (Table 1), and L. grandisquamis should similarly be assigned a new genus name [51]. The ‘Indo-West Pacific’ (Chelon spp. + Liza spp. + P. parmatus) subclade contains L. alata, a senior synonym of L. ordensis which is the type species of the subgenus Planiliza [37] (Table 1), hence it should be assigned genus name Planiliza by the principle of priority [51]. The genus Gracilimugil occurs in southwestern Australia.

This genus was polyphyletic (Figs. 1 and 2B). The name Moolgarda predates both Crenimugil and Valamugil (Table 1) but the position of M. pura, the type species of the genus [37], is uncertain and the type specimen has been lost [11]. Therefore, Moolgarda should be considered a nomen dubium and no use can be made of this genus name in the present revision. The Moolgarda species that belong to the Crenimugil crenilabis subclade should be placed under Crenimugil (see above). The other species, including M. cunnesius, M. engeli, M. perusii and Valamugil robustus clustered into a distinct subclade (Fig. 2B), hence deserve a different genus name. For this, we propose to use the name Osteomugil following Lüther [42], who described this genus from M. cunnesius (the type species), and who also suggested that it might include M. engeli.

All 9 Mugil species examined by [1] (M. bananensis, M. capurrii, M. cephalus, M. curema, M. hospes, M. incilis, M. liza, M. rubrioculus and M. trichodon) clustered into a single, well-supported clade (Fig. 4A of [1]). Mugil was found to be paraphyletic with Xenomugil (Fig. 2C). The name Mugil remains valid by the principle of priority [51] (Table 1). This genus has a temperate-tropical circumglobal distribution [11].

Myxus was polyphyletic, with M. elongatus (its type-species) pairing with Neomyxus leuciscus, and M. capensis being part of the distinct clade external to O. labeo and the two (Liza spp. + Chelon spp.) subclades. The name Myxus should be maintained for M. elongatus (the type-species of the genus), while M. capensis deserves genus rank. As there is currently no genus name available for M. capensis (Table 1), a new genus name has to be proposed. The genus Myxus under its present, revised definition is restricted to the temperate waters of Australia.

Neomyxus is the sister lineage of M. elongatus. No taxonomic change is needed for Neomyxus, which is monotypic [13]. The only representative of this genus, N. leuciscus, occurs around islands of the Central Pacific, from Southern Japanese and Hawaiian islands to Samoa [11].

The mitochondrial phylogeny (Fig. 1) revealed a polyphyletic Oedalechilus: O. labeo, its type species, clustered with Myxus capensis, Chelon spp., Liza spp. and P. parmatus to form a distinct subclade, while O. labiosus paired with E. vaigiensis within another subclade that also included R. nasutus. The genus name Oedalechilus should be maintained for O. labeo (its type-species; Table 1), O. labiosus should be reassigned to the genus Plicomugil following Schultz [41] and Harrison and Howes [54]. Therefore, under its present, revised definition, the genus Oedalechilus is monotypic. It occurs in the Western Mediterranean Sea and in the Azores archipelago [11]. The genus Plicomugil is distributed in the Indo-West Pacific, from the Red Sea to the Philippines [11].

Ghasemzadeh [12] defined the genus Paramugil for P. parmatus, which was embedded within the Indo-Pacific sub-clade of (Liza spp. + Chelon spp.) (Fig. 2A), for which we argued that the genus name Planiliza be resurrected (see above). Hence, Paramugil should now be regarded as a junior synonym of Planiliza.

Rhinomugil was polyphyletic, with R. corsula being the sister lineage of Sicamugil cascasia, while R. nasutus paired with the lineage that includes Ellochelon and O. labiosus (Fig. 1). The name Rhinomugil should be maintained for R. corsula, its type species (Table 1) but R. nasutus should be assigned a different genus name, namely Squalomugil [31] (Table 1). R. corsula is a freshwater species from India; R. nasutus occurs in the estuarine waters and mangroves of New Guinea and tropical Australia [11].

Sicamugil was paraphyletic, with S. hamiltonii being sister group to (R. corsula + S. cascasia) (Fig. 1). Sicamugil should be maintained for S. hamiltonii, the type species of the genus (Table 1), and S. cascasia should be re-assigned to Senou's [10] Minimugil (Table 1). S. hamiltoni occurs in Myanmar; S. cascasia is distributed in the Ganges River and its tributaries [11].

Genus Trachystoma formed a distinct clade on its own. The mitochondrial phylogeny confirmed the peculiar systematic status of the monotypic genus Trachystoma (Fig. 1). T. petardi, the only species in the genus, inhabits the rivers of eastern Australia, from Queensland to New South Wales [11].

Most Valamugil species, along with Moolgarda species, were split into two strongly supported lineages, one of which was paraphyletic with Crenimugil crenilabis. V. robustus belonged to another subclade, which also comprised Moolgarda spp. and Valamugil spp. Valamugil should now be considered as a junior synonym of Crenimugil since V. seheli (currently Moolgarda seheli), the type species of Valamugil, clusters with C. crenilabis (the type species of Crenimugil) into a single, well supported subclade. The subclade that includes M. cunnesius, M. engeli and M. perusii should now be assigned to Lüther's [42] Osteomugil. It is remarkable that Senou's [10] cladistic treatment, based on morphological characters, yielded the same result regarding the Crenimugil/Moolgarda/Valamugil group (Fig. 3) as the present molecular phylogeny (Fig. 2C). Senou [10] however fell short of proposing that M. seheli and V. buchanani be placed under Crenimugil, and that M. cunnesius, M. engeli and M. perusii be placed under Osteomugil. Valamugil robustus was the most externally branching species relative to the other species in our Osteomugil subclade. Therefore, although here we placed V. robustus, M. cunnesius, M. engeli and M. perusii under a single genus, it may be argued that V. robustus be assigned a different genus name because of the large nucleotide distance that separates it from the other species in the sub-clade. The unique position of the first dorsal fin in V. robustus relative to all the other Valamugil spp. and Moolgarda spp. [11] would provide morphological support for this distinction. Nevertheless, we adopted a conservative approach and we leave this taxonomic problem to future research. The genus Osteomugil under its present, revised definition has a wide Indo-Pacific distribution, from South Africa to French Polynesia [11].

The Xenomugil thoburni partial haplotypes were found to be embedded within the Mugil curema haplogroup (Fig. 2C). Therefore, there is no phylogenetic rationale to recognizing the genus Xenomugil as valid. The placement of X. thoburni haplotypes within the Mugil spp. subclade implies that Xenomugil is a synonym of Mugil. Further research is needed to clarify the systematics of the M. curema species complex and, in particular, whether X. thoburni is a distinct, biological species.

The new genus name Neochelon is here proposed for Mugil falcipinnis Valenciennes 1836 [18], here designated as its type species. The nucleotide sequences examined were those of the cytb gene (GenBank accession No. JQ060212), the COI gene (GenBank JQ060469), and the 16S gene (GenBank JQ060716) of voucher specimen no. MNHN 2009-0730 (from Toubacouta, Saloum estuary, Senegal), and the homologous sequences of specimens collected in St Louis, Senegal (GenBank JQ060213, JQ060470, and JQ060717; JQ060214, JQ060471, and JQ060718) and at the fish market of Lome, Togo (GenBank JQ060215, JQ060472, and JQ060719) (Table 1 of [1]). The new genus is unique by the placement of its mitochondrial haplotypes on the phylogenetic tree of Mugilidae (Fig. 1), alone forming one of the seven major clades that stem from the common ancestor to all current mugilid species. The name of the genus is derived from Chelon, preceded by greek prefix “neo-” meaning “new”. Distribution: West Africa, from Saint-Louis in northern Senegal to Congo [11].

The new genus name Parachelon is here proposed for Mugil grandisquamis Valenciennes 1836 [18], here designated as its type species. The nucleotide sequences examined were those of the cytb gene (GenBank accession nos. JQ060218 and JQ060219), the COI gene (GenBank JQ060475 and JQ060476), and the 16S gene (GenBank JQ060722 and JQ060723) of voucher specimens nos. MNHN 2009-731 and SAIAB-83182 (both from Saloum estuary, Senegal), and the homologous sequences of additional specimens collected in the Saloum estuary, Senegal (GenBank JQ060216, JQ060473, and JQ060720) and at the fish market in Bissau, Guinea Bissau (GenBank JQ060217, JQ060474, and JQ060721). This new genus is unique by the placement of its mitochondrial haplotypes on the phylogenetic tree of Mugilidae (Fig. 1), where it forms a subclade sister to Chelon, Oedalechilus, and Planiliza within the clade that also comprises Pseudomyxus gen. nov. The name of the genus is derived from Chelon, preceded by greek prefix “para-” meaning “beside”. Distribution: West Africa, from Senegal to Nigeria [11].

The new genus name Pseudomyxus is here proposed for Mugil capensis Valenciennes 1836 [18], here designated as its type species. The nucleotide sequences examined were those of the cytb gene (GenBank JQ060366), the COI gene (GenBank JQ060615) and the 16S gene (GenBank JQ060867) of a specimen collected in the East Kleinemonde estuary, South Africa (sampling details in Table 1 of [1]). The new genus is unique by the placement of its mitochondrial haplotypes on the phylogenetic tree of Mugilidae (Fig. 1): Pseudomyxus gen. nov., together with Chelon, Oedalechilus, Parachelon gen. nov. and Planiliza, forms one of the seven major clades of the Mugilidae family. Pseudomyxus gen. nov. represents the most external lineage within this clade (Fig. 1). The name of the genus is derived from Myxus, preceded by greek prefix “pseudo-” meaning “false”. Distribution: South Africa [11].