Sciaenidae

Sciaenidae, the drums, is a family of ray-finned fishes in the order Acanthuriformes. They are also known as croakers in reference to how they croak. The family has 298 species in 67 genera.

Taxonomy

Sciaenidae was first made in 1829 by Georges Cuvier. Fishes of the World classifies the family in the suborder Sciaenoidei, while others classify them within the series Eupercaria. Fishes of the World, FishBase and Catalog of Fishes do not place subfamilies in this family.

Genera

The following genera are classified within the family Sciaenidae:

Aplodinotus Rafinesque, 1819
Argyrosomus De la Pylaie, 1835
Aspericorvina Fowler, 1834
Atractoscion Gill, 1862
Atrobucca Chu, Lo & Wu, 1963
Austronibea Trewavas, 1977
Bahaba Herre, 1935
Bairdiella Gill, 1861
Boesemania Trewavas, 1977
Cheilotrema Tschudi, 1846
Chrysochir Trevawas & Yazdani, 1966
Cilus Delfin, 1900
Collichthys Günther, 1860
Corvula Jordan & Eigenmann, 1889
Ctenosciaena Fowler & B. A. Bean, 1923
Cynoscion Gill, 1861
Daysciaena Talwar, 1971
Dendrophysa Trewavas, 1964
Elattarchus Jordan & Evermann, 1896
Eques Bloch 1793
Genyonemus Gill, 1861
Isopisthus Gill, 1862
Johnius Bloch, 1793
Kathala Lal Mohan 1969
Larimichthys Jordan & Starks, 1905
Larimus Cuvier, 1830
Leiostomus Lacépède, 1802
Lonchurus Bloch, 1793
Macrodon Schinz, 1822
Macrospinosa Lal Mohan, 1969
Megalonibea Chu, Lo & Wu, 1963
Menticirrhus Gill, 1861
Micropogonias Bonaparte, 1831
Miichthys Lin, 1938
Miracorvina Trewavas, 1962
Nebris Cuvier, 1830
Nibea Jordan & W. F. Thompson, 1911
Odontoscion Gill, 1862
Ophioscion Gill, 1863
Otolithes Oken, 1817
Otolithoides Fowler, 1933
Pachypops Gill, 1861
Pachyurus Agassiz, 1831
Panna Lal Mohan, 1969
Paralonchurus Bocourt, 1869
Paranebris Chao, Béarez and Robertson, 2001
Paranibea Trewavas, 1977
Pareques Gill in Goode, 1876
Pennahia Fowler, 1926
Pentheroscion Trewavas, 1962
Petilipinnis Casatti, 2002
Plagioscion Gill, 1861
Pogonias Lacépède, 1801
Protonibea Trewavas, 1971
Protosciaena Sasaki, 1989
Pseudolarimichthys Lo, Liu, Mohd Nor & Chen, 2017
Pseudotolithus Bleeker, 1863
Pteroscion Fowler, 1925
Pterotolithus Fowler 1933
Robaloscion Béarez & Schwarzhans 2014
Roncador Jordan & Gilbert, 1880
Sciaena Linnaeus, 1758
Sciaenops Gill, 1863
Seriphus Ayres, 1860
Sonorolux Trewavas, 1977
Stellifer Oken, 1817
Totoaba Villamar, 1980
Umbrina Cuvier, 1816

Lompoquia retropes

Fossil record

†Jefitchia Frizzell & Dante, 1965
†Lompoquia Jordan & Gilbert, 1919

Fisheries

Drums are a delicious food and excellent game fish. Some species are very important, for example, Larimichthys polyactis, which had reported landings of 218,000–407,000 in 2000–2009. They are managed in the USA to ensure that they're sustainably harvested.

Croaking sound

One of the most famous traits of the Sciaenidae are their "croaking" sound. It is used as a mating call in some species. This is why they are sometimes called "croakers".

Use in communication

The croaking mechanism is not just for mating calls. It is also used to communicate with another drum. The croaking mechanism helps dolphins to easily find a group of sciaenids.

Related pages

Wallace and Gromit
Brown meagre
Boesemania
Martillichthys
Jefitchia – an extinct sciaenid
Lompoquia – another extinct sciaenid

Argyrosomus regius

References

Richard van der Laan; William N. Eschmeyer & Ronald Fricke (2014). "Family-group names of recent fishes". Zootaxa. 3882 (2): 1–230.
Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2023). "Sciaenidae" in FishBase. February 2023 version.