''Dicentrarchus'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fish or actinopterygians, is a class of bony fish that comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. They are so called because of their lightly built fins made of webbings of sk ...

es belonging to the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Moronidae The Moronidae is a family of percomorph fishes, commonly called the temperate basses, in the order Moroniformes. These fishes are found in the freshwaters of North America and the coastal waters of the North Atlantic. Taxonomy Moronidae was f ...

, the temperate basses. The two species in this genus are found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean and the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

. The species in this genus are economically important food fishes.

Classification

''Dicentrarchus'' was first proposed as a

monospecific genus In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

in 1860 by the American ichthyologist Theodore Gill with ''Perca elongata'', which had been described in 1817 by

Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (; 15 April 177219 June 1844) was a French naturalist who established the principle of "unity of composition". He was a colleague of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and expanded and defended Lamarck's evolutionary theorie ...

from the Mediterranean Sea of Egypt, designated as its

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

. The genus is one of two in the family Moronidae which belongs to the

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...

Moroniformes Moroniformes is an order of ray-finned fishes in the series Percomorpha. Families Moroniformes comprises three families according to the 5th edition of the ''Fishes of the World'': * Moronidae Jordan & Evermann, 1896 * Drepaneidae Gill, 1872 * ...

Etymology

''Dicentrarchus'' is a combination of ''di'', “two”, with ''kentron'', “thorn” or “spine”, and ''archos'', “anus”. This is an allusion to the two

anal fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported o ...

spines Gill thought the European seabass had. In fact, both species have three spines in their anal fins and Gill admitted he did not actually examine a

specimen Specimen may refer to: Science and technology * Sample (material), a limited quantity of something which is intended to be similar to and represent a larger amount * Biological specimen or biospecimen, an organic specimen held by a biorepository f ...

Species

''Dicentrarchus'' currently has two species classified within it:

Characteristics

''Dicentrarchus'' seabasses have a finely serrated rear margin to the

preoperculum This glossary of ichthyology is a list of definitions of terms and concepts used in ichthyology, the study of fishes. A B C ...

with the lower edge having robust, forward pointing denticles. There are two flat sines on the operculum. They have two separated

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates. Dorsal fins have evolved independently several times through convergent evolution adapting to marine environments, so the fins are not all homologous. They are found ...

s and their

caudal fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported only ...

is moderately forked. The largest of these fishes is the European seabass which has a maximum published

total length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies, for data used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fishery biology. Overall length Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish measured f ...

of .

Distribution, habitat and biology

''Dicentrarchus'' seabasses are coastal fishes found in the eastern Atlantic, from Norway south to Senegal, and the Mediterranean. These fishes are

euryhaline Euryhaline organisms are able to adapt to a wide range of salinities. An example of a euryhaline fish is the short-finned molly, '' Poecilia sphenops'', which can live in fresh water, brackish water, or salt water. The green crab ('' Carcinus m ...

and

eurythermal A eurytherm is an organism, often an endotherm, that can function at a wide range of ambient temperatures. To be considered a eurytherm, all stages of an organism's life cycle must be considered, including juvenile and larval stages. These wid ...

. They are sociable when young. Their eggs and larvae are pelagic. These fishes are predatory, preying on crustaceans and other fishes.

Utilisation

''Dicentrarchus'' seabasses have a very palatable flesh and are economically important.

References

{{Authority control Moronidae