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Sciaenidae is a
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 ...
of
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
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 ...
Acanthuriformes Acanthuriformes is a large, diverse order of mostly marine ray-finned fishes, part of the Percomorpha clade. In the past, members of this clade were placed in the suborders Acanthuroidea and Percoidea of the order Perciformes, but this treatment ...
. They are commonly called drums or croakers in reference to the repetitive throbbing or drumming sounds they make. The family consists of about 293 to 298 species in about 66 or 67 genera.


Taxonomy

Sciaenidae was first proposed as a family in 1829 by the French
zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...
Georges Cuvier. The 5th edition of ''
Fishes of the World ''Fishes of the World'' is a standard reference for the systematics of fishes. It was first written in 1976 by the American ichthyologist Joseph S. Nelson (1937–2011). Now in its fifth edition (2016), the work is a comprehensive overview of t ...
'' classifies the family in the
suborder Order () is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and recognized ...
Sciaenoidei Sciaenoidei is a suborder of ray-finned fishes belonging to the Order (biology), order Acanthuriformes. Taxonomy The suborder was first proposed in 1828 by the French zoologist Georges Cuvier. The 5th edition of ''Fishes of the World'' classifies ...
, alongside the rover family
Emmelichthyidae Emmelichthyidae is a small Family (biology), family of small to medium-sized Marine (ocean), marine ray-finned fishes known commonly as redbaits, rovers, bonnetmouths or rubyfishes. The Emmelichthyidae are poorly known even among researchers who ...
, in the order
Acanthuriformes Acanthuriformes is a large, diverse order of mostly marine ray-finned fishes, part of the Percomorpha clade. In the past, members of this clade were placed in the suborders Acanthuroidea and Percoidea of the order Perciformes, but this treatment ...
. Other authorities classify the Sciaenidae and the Emmelichthyidae as ''
incertae sedis or is a term used for a taxonomy (biology), taxonomic group where its broader relationships are unknown or undefined. Alternatively, such groups are frequently referred to as "enigmatic taxa". In the system of open nomenclature, uncertainty ...
'' within the series
Eupercaria Percomorpha () is an extremely large and diverse clade of ray-finned fish. With more than 17,000 known species (including tuna, seahorses, gobies, cichlids, flatfish, wrasse, perches, anglerfish, and pufferfish) known from both marine and fresh ...
. The ''
Catalog of Fishes Catalog of Fishes is a comprehensive on-line database and reference work on the scientific names of fish species and genera. It is global in its scope and is hosted by the California Academy of Sciences. It has been compiled and is continuously up ...
'' retains this family within the Acanthuriformes but does not recognise the suborder Sciaenoidei. The 5th edition of ''Fishes of the World'', ''
Fishbase FishBase is a global species database of fish species (specifically finfish). It is the largest and most extensively accessed online database on adult finfish on the web.
'' and ''
Catalog of Fishes Catalog of Fishes is a comprehensive on-line database and reference work on the scientific names of fish species and genera. It is global in its scope and is hosted by the California Academy of Sciences. It has been compiled and is continuously up ...
'' do not recognise
subfamilies 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 zool ...
within the Sciaenidae but many workers on these fishes do recognise subfamilies and tribes within the family. For example, in 1989 Kunio Sasaki erected a number of subfamilies and
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 ...
s.


Genera

The following genera are classified within the family Sciaenidae:


Fossil genera

The following fossil genera are known: * †'' Advenasciaena'' Kocsis, Lin, Bernard & Johari, 2024 nowiki/>otolith">otolith.html" ;"title="nowiki/>otolith">nowiki/>otolithref name=":3">
* †''Bruneisciaena'' Kocsis, Lin, Bernard & Johari, 2024 tolithref name=":3" /> * †''Carnevalella'' Bannikov, 2013 (only member of subfamily Carnevalellinae) * †''Caucasisciaena'' Bannikov, Carnevale & Landini, 2009 * †'' Chaoia'' Bannikov, Schwarzhans & Carnevale, 2018 nowiki/>otolith''' * †'' Croatosciaena'' Bannikov, Schwarzhans & Carnevale, 2018 * †'' Diaphyodus'' von Schafhäutl, 1863 * †'' Equetulus'' Aguilera & Schwarzhans, 2014 tolithref name=":4"> * †'' Jefitchia'' Frizzell &
Dante Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...
, 1965
* †'' Landinisciaena'' Bannikov, Schwarzhans & Carnevale, 2018 * †'' Leptosciaena'' Bannikov, Schwarzhans & Carnevale, 2018 tolith''' * †'' Lompoquia''
Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...
& Gilbert, 1919
* †'' Pebasciaena'' Schwarzhans, Aguilera, Scheyer & Carrillo-Briceño, 2022 tolith* †'' Pontosciaena'' Bannikov, Schwarzhans & Carnevale, 2018 tolith''' * †'' Protolarimus'' Aguilera & Schwarzhans, 2014 tolithref name=":4" /> * ?†'' Pseudoumbrina'' Menner, 1948 * †'' Taosciaena'' Lin & Chien, 2022 tolith* †'' Trewasciaena'' Schwarzhans, 1993'''' The fossil genus '' Ioscion'' may be either a drumfish or belong to its own family more closely related to carangids. The former Paratethys Sea appears to have been a hotspot of endemism for many of these extinct sciaenid taxa, as many articulated remains and otoliths are known from this region.''''


Etymology

Sciaenidae takes its name from its
type genus In biological taxonomy, the type genus (''genus typica'') is the genus which defines a biological family and the root of the family name. Zoological nomenclature According to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, "The name-bearin ...
''Sciaena'' which is derived from the
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
''skiaina'', which was used to refer to marine
perch Perch is a common name for freshwater fish from the genus ''Perca'', which belongs to the family Percidae of the large order Perciformes. The name comes from , meaning the type species of this genus, the European perch (''P. fluviatilis'') ...
-like fishes.


Characteristics

A sciaenid has a long
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 ...
reaching nearly to the tail, and a notch between the rays and spines of the dorsal, although the two parts are actually separate. Drums are somberly coloured, usually in shades of brown, with a lateral line on each side that extends to the tip of the caudal fin. The anal fin usually has two spines, while the dorsal fins are deeply notched or separate. Most species have a rounded or pointed caudal fin. The mouth is set low and is usually inferior. Their croaking mechanism involves the beating of abdominal muscles against the
swim bladder The swim bladder, gas bladder, fish maw, or air bladder is an internal gas-filled organ (anatomy), organ in bony fish that functions to modulate buoyancy, and thus allowing the fish to stay at desired water depth without having to maintain lift ...
. Sciaenids are found worldwide, in both fresh and salt water, and are typically
benthic The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from the Ancient Greek word (), meaning "the depths". ...
carnivores, feeding on
invertebrate Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordata, chordate s ...
s and smaller fish. They are small to medium-sized, bottom-dwelling fishes living primarily in estuaries, bays, and muddy river banks. Most of these fish types avoid clear waters, such as coral reefs and oceanic islands, with a few notable exceptions (e.g. reef croaker, high-hat, and spotted drum). They live in warm-temperate and tropical waters and are best represented in major rivers in
Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...
, northeast
South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
, the
Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...
, and the
Gulf of California The Gulf of California (), also known as the Sea of Cortés (''Mar de Cortés'') or Sea of Cortez, or less commonly as the Vermilion Sea (''Mar Vermejo''), is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Baja California peninsula from ...
. In the United States most fishers consider freshwater drum to be rough fish not suitable for eating, similar to
carp The term carp (: carp) is a generic common name for numerous species of freshwater fish from the family (biology), family Cyprinidae, a very large clade of ray-finned fish mostly native to Eurasia. While carp are prized game fish, quarries and a ...
, gar, and buffalo fish, although there are a number of people that enjoy fishing for these species and eating them, despite their limitations.


Fisheries

They are excellent food and sport fish, and are commonly caught by surf and pier fishers. Some are important commercial fishery species, notably
small yellow croaker ''Larimichthys polyactis'', called the redlip croaker, small yellow croaker, little yellow croaker or yellow corvina, is a species of Sciaenidae, croaker native to the western Pacific, generally in temperate waters such as the East China Sea and ...
with reported landings of 218,000–407,000 tonnes in 2000–2009; according to
FAO The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; . (FAO) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition ...
fishery statistics, it was the 25th most important fishery species worldwide. However, a large proportion of the catch is not reported at species level; in the FAO fishery statistics, the category "Croakers, drums, not elsewhere included", is the largest one within sciaenids, with annual landings of 431,000–780,000 tonnes in 2000–2009, most of which were reported from the western Indian Ocean (FAO fishing area 51) and northwest Pacific (FAO fishing area 61). The future of croakers, like many other fish species in the United States and around the world is uncertain because overfishing continues to be a major threat. The population has decreased significantly which will affect their ability reproduce. In United States Croakers are managed by the federal and state governments to ensure that they're harvested sustainably.


Croaking mechanism

A notable trait of sciaenids is the ability to produce a "croaking" sound. However, the pitch and use of croaking varies species to species. The croaking ability is a distinguishing characteristic of sciaenids. The croaking mechanism is used by males as a
mating call A mating call is the auditory signal used by animals to attract mates. It can occur in males or females, but literature is abundantly favored toward researching mating calls in females. In addition, mating calls are often the subject of mate choi ...
in some species. To produce the croaking sound, special muscles vibrate against the
swim bladder The swim bladder, gas bladder, fish maw, or air bladder is an internal gas-filled organ (anatomy), organ in bony fish that functions to modulate buoyancy, and thus allowing the fish to stay at desired water depth without having to maintain lift ...
. These muscles are called sonic muscle fibres, and run horizontally along the fish's body on both sides around the swim bladder, connected to a central
tendon A tendon or sinew is a tough band of fibrous connective tissue, dense fibrous connective tissue that connects skeletal muscle, muscle to bone. It sends the mechanical forces of muscle contraction to the skeletal system, while withstanding tensi ...
that surrounds the swim bladder ventrally. These sonic muscle fibres are repeatedly contracted against the swim bladder to produce the croaking sound that gives drum and croaker their common name, effectively using the swim bladder as a resonating chamber. The sciaenids' large swim bladder is more expansive and branched than other species, which aids in the croaking. In some species the sonic muscle fibres are only present in males. These muscles strengthen during the
mating season Seasonal breeders are animal species that successfully mate only during certain times of the year. These times of year allow for the optimization of survival of young due to factors such as ambient temperature, food and water availability, and ch ...
and are allowed to atrophy the rest of the time, deactivating the croaking mechanism. In other species, most notably the Atlantic croaker, the croaking mechanism is present in both sexes and remains active year-round. These species are thought to use croaking for communication, such as announcing hazards and location when in turbid water.


Croaking in communication

In some species, croaking is used for communication aside from attracting mates. For those species that have year-round croaking ability, the croaks may serve as a low-aggression warning during group feeding, as well as to communicate location in cloudy water. In those species that lack the ability to croak year-round, croaking is usually restricted to males for attracting mates. A disadvantage to the croaking ability is that it allows
bottlenose dolphin The bottlenose dolphin is a toothed whale in the genus ''Tursiops''. They are common, cosmopolitan members of the family Delphinidae, the family of oceanic dolphins. Molecular studies show the genus contains three species: the common bot ...
to easily locate large groups of croaker and drum as they broadcast their position, indicating large amounts of food for the dolphins.


Timeline of genera

ImageSize = width:1000px height:auto barincrement:15px PlotArea = left:10px bottom:50px top:10px right:10px Period = from:-65.5 till:10 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:-65.5 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:-65.5 TimeAxis = orientation:hor AlignBars = justify Colors = #legends id:CAR value:claret id:ANK value:rgb(0.4,0.3,0.196) id:HER value:teal id:HAD value:green id:OMN value:blue id:black value:black id:white value:white id:cenozoic value:rgb(0.54,0.54,0.258) id:paleogene value:rgb(0.99,0.6,0.32) id:paleocene value:rgb(0.99,0.65,0.37) id:eocene value:rgb(0.99,0.71,0.42) id:oligocene value:rgb(0.99,0.75,0.48) id:neogene value:rgb(0.999999,0.9,0.1) id:miocene value:rgb(0.999999,0.999999,0) id:pliocene value:rgb(0.97,0.98,0.68) id:quaternary value:rgb(0.98,0.98,0.5) id:pleistocene value:rgb(0.999999,0.95,0.68) id:holocene value:rgb(0.999,0.95,0.88) BarData= bar:eratop bar:space bar:periodtop bar:space bar:NAM1 bar:NAM2 bar:NAM3 bar:NAM4 bar:NAM5 bar:NAM6 bar:NAM7 bar:NAM8 bar:NAM9 bar:NAM10 bar:NAM11 bar:NAM12 bar:NAM13 bar:NAM14 bar:NAM15 bar:NAM16 bar:space bar:period bar:space bar:era PlotData= align:center textcolor:black fontsize:M mark:(line,black) width:25 shift:(7,-4) bar:periodtop from: -65.5 till: -55.8 color:paleocene text:
Paleocene The Paleocene ( ), or Palaeocene, is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 66 to 56 mya (unit), million years ago (mya). It is the first epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), ...
from: -55.8 till: -33.9 color:eocene text:
Eocene The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes ...
from: -33.9 till: -23.03 color:oligocene text:
Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch (geology), epoch of the Paleogene Geologic time scale, Period that extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that defin ...
from: -23.03 till: -5.332 color:miocene text:
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 ...
from: -5.332 till: -2.588 color:pliocene text: Plio. from: -2.588 till: -0.0117 color:pleistocene text: Pleist. from: -0.0117 till: 0 color:holocene text: H. bar:eratop from: -65.5 till: -23.03 color:paleogene text:
Paleogene The Paleogene Period ( ; also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene) is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Neogene Period Ma. It is the fir ...
from: -23.03 till: -2.588 color:neogene text:
Neogene The Neogene ( ,) is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period million years ago. It is the second period of th ...
from: -2.588 till: 0 color:quaternary text: Q. PlotData= align:left fontsize:M mark:(line,white) width:5 anchor:till align:left color:oligocene bar:NAM1 from: -28.4 till: 0 text: Larimus color:miocene bar:NAM2 from: -23.03 till: 0 text: Argyrosomus color:miocene bar:NAM3 from: -23.03 till: 0 text: Ctenosciaena color:miocene bar:NAM4 from: -23.03 till: 0 text: Nebris color:miocene bar:NAM5 from: -23.03 till: 0 text: Pogonias color:miocene bar:NAM6 from: -23.03 till: 0 text: Umbrina color:miocene bar:NAM7 from: -15.97 till: 0 text: Sciaenops color:miocene bar:NAM8 from: -11.608 till: 0 text: Bairdiella color:miocene bar:NAM9 from: -11.608 till: 0 text:
Cynoscion ''Cynoscion'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family, Sciaenidae, the drums and croakers. These fishes are found off the coasts of North and South America in the western Atlantic and eastern Pacific Oceans. Many fishes in ...
color:miocene bar:NAM10 from: -11.608 till: 0 text: Menticirrhus color:miocene bar:NAM11 from: -11.608 till: 0 text:
Sciaena ''Sciaena'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Sciaenidae, the drums and croakers. These fishes are found in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and the Eastern Atlantic Ocean. Taxonomy ''Sciaena'' was first proposed as a gen ...
color:pliocene bar:NAM12 from: -5.332 till: 0 text:
Aplodinotus The freshwater drum, ''Aplodinotus grunniens'', is a fish endemic to North America, North and Central America. It is the only species in the genus ''Aplodinotus'', and is a member of the family Sciaenidae. It is the only North American member of ...
color:pliocene bar:NAM13 from: -5.332 till: 0 text: Seriphus color:pleistocene bar:NAM14 from: -2.588 till: 0 text: Genyonemus color:pleistocene bar:NAM15 from: -2.588 till: 0 text: Pennahia color:pleistocene bar:NAM16 from: -2.588 till: 0 text: Roncador PlotData= align:center textcolor:black fontsize:M mark:(line,black) width:25 bar:period from: -65.5 till: -55.8 color:paleocene text:
Paleocene The Paleocene ( ), or Palaeocene, is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 66 to 56 mya (unit), million years ago (mya). It is the first epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), ...
from: -55.8 till: -33.9 color:eocene text:
Eocene The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes ...
from: -33.9 till: -23.03 color:oligocene text:
Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch (geology), epoch of the Paleogene Geologic time scale, Period that extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that defin ...
from: -23.03 till: -5.332 color:miocene text:
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 ...
from: -5.332 till: -2.588 color:pliocene text: Plio. from: -2.588 till: -0.0117 color:pleistocene text: Pleist. from: -0.0117 till: 0 color:holocene text: H. bar:era from: -65.5 till: -23.03 color:paleogene text:
Paleogene The Paleogene Period ( ; also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene) is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Neogene Period Ma. It is the fir ...
from: -23.03 till: -2.588 color:neogene text:
Neogene The Neogene ( ,) is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period million years ago. It is the second period of th ...
from: -2.588 till: 0 color:quaternary text: Q.


References


Further reading

* {{Authority control Acanthuriformes families Extant Oligocene first appearances Taxa named by Georges Cuvier