The Luciopercinae is a

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

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 ...

, classified within 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 ...

Percidae The Percidae are a family of ray-finned fish, part of the order Perciformes, which are found in fresh and brackish waters of the Northern Hemisphere. The majority are Nearctic, but there are also Palearctic species. The family contains nearly 250 ...

, the subfamily includes the pike-perches and zingels. The pike-perches of the genus ''

Sander A sander is a power tool used to smooth surfaces by abrasion with sandpaper. Sanders have a means to attach the sandpaper and a mechanism to move it rapidly contained within a housing with means to handhold it or fix it to a workbench. Woodw ...

'' have an

Holarctic The Holarctic realm is a biogeographic realm that comprises the majority of habitats found throughout the continents in the Northern Hemisphere. It corresponds to the floristic Boreal Kingdom. It includes both the Nearctic zoogeographical reg ...

distribution while the zingels of the

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

Romanichthyini Romanichthyini is a tribe (taxonomy), tribe of freshwater ray-finned fish which is one of two tribes in the subfamily Luciopercinae, which in turn is classified under the Family (biology), family Percidae, the family also includes the perches, Sa ...

are found in Europe. They are largely freshwater species but some can be found in brackish water.

Characteristics

The species within the Luciopercinae have a number of morphological characteristics in common. These are the possession of weak spines in the

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 ...

, the

lateral line The lateral line, also called the lateral line organ (LLO), is a system of sensory organs found in fish, used to detect movement, vibration, and pressure gradients in the surrounding water. The sensory ability is achieved via modified epithelia ...

extending as far as the margin of the

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 ...

and additional lines over and under the main lateral line, having a

cleithrum The cleithrum (: cleithra) is a membrane bone which first appears as part of the skeleton in primitive Osteichthyes, bony fish, where it runs vertically along the scapula. Its name is derived from Greek κλειθρον = "key (lock)", by analogy ...

which does not have serrations on the

pectoral girdle The shoulder girdle or pectoral girdle is the set of bones in the appendicular skeleton which connects to the arm on each side. In humans, it consists of the clavicle and scapula; in those species with three bones in the shoulder, it consists o ...

, and having a

vertebra Each vertebra (: vertebrae) is an irregular bone with a complex structure composed of bone and some hyaline cartilage, that make up the vertebral column or spine, of vertebrates. The proportions of the vertebrae differ according to their spina ...

count of 41–50.

Distribution

The Luciopercinae has a Holarctic distribution, the pike-perches of the genus ''Sander'' are found in Eurasia and North America and includes such commercially important species as the zander (''Sander lucioperca'') and the

walleye The walleye (''Sander vitreus'', Synonym (taxonomy), synonym ''Stizostedion vitreum''), also called the walleyed pike, yellow pike, yellow pikeperch or yellow pickerel, is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern ...

(''Sander vitreus''). On the other hand the tribe Romanichthyini is restricted to Eastern Europe where the species within the tribe are all

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the fast flowing streams of the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

Systematics

The subfamily is classified into two tribes and three genera, as set out below, containing a total of 10 species: * Tribe

Luciopercini ''Sander'' (formerly known as ''Stizostedion'') is a genus of predatory ray-finned fish in the family Percidae, which also includes the perches, ruffes, and darters. They are also known as "pike-perch" because of their resemblance to fish in th ...

Jordan & Evermann 1896 ** Genus †'' Leobergia'' Schtylko, 1934 ** Genus ''

'' Oken, 1817 * Tribe

Dumitrescu, Bănărescu & Stoica 1957 ** Genus ''

Romanichthys ''Romanichthys'' is a genus of ray-finned fish. It is one of two genera in the tribe Romanichthyini which, along with the tribe Luciopercini, forms the subfamily Luciopercinae of the family Percidae. This happens alongside the perches, ruffes, ...

'' Dumitrescu, Bănărescu & Stoica 1957 ** Genus ''

Zingel ''Zingel'' is a genus of fish in the family Percidae. They are long and slender, reaching in length. They are found in rivers and streams in Europe. They feed mainly on aquatic invertebrates such as crustaceans and insect larvae, and also eat s ...

'' Cloquet, 1817 The earliest known fossils of this subfamily are partial jaw and vertebrae elements of ''Sander'' from the middle

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

(

Barstovian The Barstovian North American Stage on the geologic timescale is the North American faunal stage according to the North American Land Mammal Ages chronology (NALMA), typically set from 16,300,000 to 13,600,000 years BP, a period of . It is usua ...

)-aged

Wood Mountain Formation The Wood Mountain Formation is a geologic formation in Saskatchewan. It preserves fossils dating back to the Neogene The Neogene ( ,) is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period mil ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

, Canada. The extinct genus '' Leobergia'' is known from the Miocene and

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch (geology), epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58

References

{{Taxonbar, From=Q21223063 Percidae Ray-finned fish subfamilies Taxa named by David Starr Jordan Taxa named by Barton Warren Evermann