''Stellifer'' 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 ...
of
fish
A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...
in the family
Sciaenidae
Sciaenidae is a family (biology), family of ray-finned fishes belonging to the Order (biology), order Acanthuriformes. They are commonly called drums or croakers in reference to the repetitive throbbing or drumming sounds they make. The family co ...
, the drums and croakers. It is found in
New World
The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...
waters.
[Chao, N. L. (2001)]
Two new species of ''Stellifer'' from inshore waters of the eastern Pacific, with a redescription of ''S. ephelis'' (Perciformes: Sciaenidae).
''Rev. Biol. Trop.'' 49 Supl. 1 67-80. Many species are known commonly as stardrums.
In the Americas, this is one of the most diverse genera among the sciaenids. Its members can be found in the
tropics
The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...
and
subtropics
The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical and climate zones immediately to the north and south of the tropics. Geographically part of the temperate zones of both hemispheres, they cover the middle latitudes from to approximately ...
and in shallow and deeper waters. Some are
semianadromous, spawning in the ocean near
estuaries
An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...
so the eggs and young will be taken into lower-salinity environments on the
tide
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another.
Tide tables ...
s.
[Pombo, M., et al. (2012)]
Population biology of ''Stellifer rastrifer'', ''S. brasiliensis'' and ''S. stellifer'' in Caraguatatuba Bay, northern coast of São Paulo, Brazil.
''Brazilian Journal of Oceanography'' 60(3) 271-82.
The genus belongs to the subfamily Stelliferinae, whose members have double-chambered
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 ...
s (the smaller front chamber is "yoke-shaped" and the main chamber is "carrot-shaped") and two pairs of large
otolith
An otolith (, ' ear + , ', a stone), also called otoconium, statolith, or statoconium, is a calcium carbonate structure in the saccule or utricle (ear), utricle of the inner ear, specifically in the vestibular system of vertebrates. The saccule ...
s.
These fish are very common in their range, and there are usually at least two species occurring together. ''
Stellifer rastrifer'' is one of the most abundant sciaenids in the seas along the coast of
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
.
[
These fish are carnivorous, with diet assessments of a few different species finding mysids such as '' Mysidopsis coelhoi'', ]copepod
Copepods (; meaning 'oar-feet') are a group of small crustaceans found in nearly every freshwater and saltwater habitat (ecology), habitat. Some species are planktonic (living in the water column), some are benthos, benthic (living on the sedimen ...
s such as ''Acartia lilljeborgii
''Acartia'' is a genus of marine calanoid copepods. They are epipelagic, estuarine, zooplanktonic found throughout the oceans of the world, primarily in temperate regions.
Classification
This genus contains the majority of species in the fam ...
'' and '' Pseudodiaptomus acutus'', sergestoid prawns such as '' Peisos petrunkevitchi'', amphipods
Amphipoda () is an order (biology), order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. Amphipods () range in size from and are mostly detritivores or scavengers. There are more than 10,700 amphip ...
, chaetognaths
The Chaetognatha or chaetognaths (meaning ''bristle-jaws'') are a phylum of predatory marine worms that are a major component of plankton worldwide. Commonly known as arrow worms, they are mostly pelagic; however about 20% of the known species ...
, isopods
Isopoda is an Order (biology), order of crustaceans. Members of this group are called isopods and include both Aquatic animal, aquatic species and Terrestrial animal, terrestrial species such as woodlice. All have rigid, segmented exoskeletons ...
, cumacea
Cumacea is an order (biology), order of small marine crustaceans of the superorder Peracarida, occasionally called hooded shrimp or comma shrimp. Their unique appearance and uniform body plan makes them easy to distinguish from other crustaceans. ...
ns, ostracod
Ostracods, or ostracodes, are a Class (biology), class of the crustacean, Crustacea (class Ostracoda), sometimes known as seed shrimp. Some 33,000 species (only 13,000 of which are extant taxon, extant) have been identified,Brandão, S.N.; Antoni ...
s, ascidian tunicates, nematode
The nematodes ( or ; ; ), roundworms or eelworms constitute the phylum Nematoda. Species in the phylum inhabit a broad range of environments. Most species are free-living, feeding on microorganisms, but many are parasitic. Parasitic worms (h ...
s, polychaete
Polychaeta () is a paraphyletic class of generally marine Annelid, annelid worms, common name, commonly called bristle worms or polychaetes (). Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that bear many bristles, called c ...
s, fish
A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...
, and bivalves
Bivalvia () or bivalves, in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class of aquatic molluscs (marine and freshwater) that have laterally compressed soft bodies enclosed by a calcified exoskeleton consis ...
, or at least their siphons.[Pombo, M., et al. (2013)]
Seasonality, dietary overlap and the role of taxonomic resolution in the study of the diet of three congeneric fishes from a tropical bay.
PLoS ONE 8(2) e56107. ''S. rastrifer'' is known to cannibalize
Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is also well document ...
juveniles of its own species.[Camargo, M. and V. Isaac. (2004)]
Food categories reconstruction and feeding consumption estimates for the sciaenid ''Macrodon ancylodon'' (Bloch & Schneider), and the congeneric fishes ''Stellifer rastrifer'' (Jordan) and ''Stellifer naso'' (Jordan) (Pisces, Perciformes) in the Caeté Estuary, northern coast of Brazil.
''Revista Brasileira de Zoologia'' 21(1) 85-89.
Several species are common bycatch
Bycatch (or by-catch), in the fishing industry, is a fish or other marine species that is caught unintentionally while fishing for specific species or sizes of wildlife. Bycatch is either the wrong species, the wrong sex, or is undersized or juve ...
in the seabob shrimp industry.[
]
Taxonomy
''Stellifer'' 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 1817 by Lorenz Oken
Lorenz Oken (1 August 1779 – 11 August 1851) was a Germans, German natural history, naturalist, botany, botanist, biologist, and ornithology, ornithologist.
Biography
Oken was born Lorenz Okenfuss () in Bohlsbach (now part of Offenburg), Ortena ...
, based on ''Les Stelliferes'' of Georges Cuvier
Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, baron Cuvier (23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier (; ), was a French natural history, naturalist and zoology, zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuv ...
of 1816. The only species then in the genus was ''Bodianus stellifer''[ which had been described in 1789 by Marcus Elieser Bloch with its Type locality (biology), type locality being given as the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, although this is likely to be Suriname.][ Some workers have placed this genus in the subfamily Stelliferinae.]
Species
''Stellifer'' contains the following recognized valid species:
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q149158
Sciaenidae
Taxa named by Lorenz Oken