Mojarra | |
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Gerres equulus | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Perciformes |
Superfamily: | Percoidea |
Family: | Gerreidae Bleeker, 1859 [1] |
Genera | |
See text. |
The mojarras are a family, Gerreidae, of fish in the order Perciformes. The family includes about 53 species found worldwide in tropical and warm temperate regions. They mostly inhabit coastal salt and brackish waters, although some occur in fresh water.
Mojarras are a common prey and bait fish in many parts of the world, including the South American coast and Caribbean islands as well as the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic coast of North America. [2] These species tend to be difficult to identify in the field and often require microscopic examination. Most species exhibit a schooling behavior and tend to exploit the shallow water refugia associated with coastal areas presumably to avoid large-bodied predators, such as the lemon shark. [3]
Mojarra is also commonly used in Latin American countries as a name for various species of the cichlid family, including tilapia.
The seven genera currently assigned to this family are: [4] [5]
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 more than 200 species in 11 genera. The perches, and their relatives are in this family; well-known species include the walleye, sauger, ruffe, and three species of perch. However, small fish known as darters are also a part of this family.
The Serranidae are a large family of fishes belonging to the order Perciformes. The family contains about 450 species in 65 genera, including the sea basses and the groupers. Although many species are small, in some cases less than 10 cm (3.9 in), the giant grouper is one of the largest bony fishes in the world, growing to 2.7 m in length and 400 kg (880 lb) in weight. Representatives of this group live in tropical and subtropical seas worldwide.
Ophidiiformes is an order of ray-finned fish that includes the cusk-eels, pearlfishes, viviparous brotulas, and others. Members of this order have small heads and long slender bodies. They have either smooth scales or no scales, a long dorsal fin and an anal fin that typically runs into the caudal fin. They mostly come from the tropics and subtropics, and live in both freshwater and marine habitats, including abyssal depths. They have adopted a range of feeding methods and lifestyles, including parasitism. The majority are egg-laying, but some are viviparous.
Combtooth blennies are blenniiformids; percomorph marine fish of the family Blenniidae, part of the order Blenniiformes. They are the largest family of blennies with around 401 known species in 58 generas. Combtooth blennies are found in tropical and subtropical waters in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans; some species are also found in brackish and even freshwater environments.
Citharichthys is a genus of flatfish in the large-tooth flounder family, Paralichthyidae. They have both eyes on the left sides of their heads. They are native to the oceans around the Americas, with a single species, C. stampflii off the West African coast. Most are found in relatively shallow depths, but the genus also includes species found in deep water and species that enter fresh water.
Grunion are two fish species of the genus Leuresthes: the California grunion, L. tenuis, and the Gulf grunion, L. sardinas. They are sardine-sized teleost fishes of the New World silverside family Atherinopsidae, found only off the coast of California, USA, and Baja California, Mexico, where the species are found on both the Pacific Ocean and Gulf of California coasts. Many people enjoy catching grunion at events called "grunion runs."
Sillago is a genus of fish in the family Sillaginidae and the only non-monotypic genus in the family. Distinguishing the species can be difficult, with many similar in appearance and colour, forcing the use of swim bladder morphology as a definitive feature. All species are benthic in nature and generally coastal fish, living in shallow, protected waters although there are exceptions. Minor fisheries exist around various species of Sillago, making them of minor importance in most of their range. This genus has the widest distribution of any smelt-whiting genus, spanning much of the Indo-Pacific. The genus ranges from the east coast of Africa to Japan in the east and Southern Australia in the south, with most species concentrated around South East Asia, the Indonesian Archipelago and Australia. Many species have overlapping distribution, often making positive identification hard.
Percoidei is one of 3 suborders of bony fishes in the order Perciformes. Many commercially harvested fish species are considered to be contained in this suborder, including the snappers, groupers, basses, goatfishes and perches.
Caranx is a genus of tropical to subtropical marine fishes in the jack family Carangidae, commonly known as jacks, trevallies and kingfishes. They are moderate- to large-sized, deep-bodied fishes which are distinguished from other carangid genera by specific gill raker, fin ray and dentition characteristics. The genus is represented in the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans, inhabiting both inshore and offshore regions, ranging from estuaries and bays to deep reefs and offshore islands. All species are powerful predators, taking a variety of fish, crustaceans and cephalopods, while they in turn are prey to larger pelagic fishes and sharks. A number of fish in the genus have a reputation as powerful gamefish and are highly sought by anglers. They often make up high amounts of the catch in various fisheries, but are generally considered poor to fair table fishes.
Chloroscombrus is a genus containing two species of tropical to temperate water marine fish in the jack and horse mackerel family Carangidae. Both members are commonly known as bumpers or bumperfish, with one species endemic to the Atlantic and the other to the eastern Pacific. They have a convex ventral profile compared to most other carangids, with small oblique mouths and low dorsal and anal fins. Phylogenetic studies have found they are most closely related to the jacks of the genus Hemicaranx, with these genera plus Selar, Selaroides and possibly Alepes, making up a clade within the Caranginae subfamily. They are predatory fish which live in both inshore and offshore environments ranging from estuaries to the edge of the continental shelf, and are of moderate importance to fisheries.
Tarpons are fish of the genus Megalops. They are the only members of the family Megalopidae. There are two species, one native to the Atlantic, and the other to the Indo-Pacific Oceans.
Western Atlantic seabream is an ocean-going species of fish in the family, Sparidae. It was first described in 1758 by the "father of modern taxonomy," Carl Linnaeus, in the 10th edition of his book, Systema Naturae. Within their native range, Western Atlantic seabream are also known as the seabream, brim, tropical sheepshead, chopa amarilla, or salema. Although they are eaten, and have been described as pan fish, Western Atlantic seabream have not gained the popularity as a gamefish that their relative, the sheepshead has.
The jolthead porgy is an ocean-going species of fish in the family Sparidae. In Bermuda, it is known as the blue bone porgy, in the United States, it is also known by the Spanish name bojanado, in Jamaica, it is one of the species known by the name, porgi grunt.
Diapterus is a genus of fish in the family Gerreidae, the mojarras. They are native to the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the Americas.
Eucinostomus is a genus of fish in the family Gerreidae. They are native to the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the Americas.
Eugerres is a genus of fish in the family Gerreidae, the mojarras. The genus was erected by David Starr Jordan and Barton Warren Evermann in 1927. They are native to the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the Americas, occurring mainly in salt and brackish waters, but may enter fresh water. The genus also includes one strict fresh water species, E. mexicanus, native to southern Mexico and Guatemala
The golden mojarra is a species of mojarra native to the eastern Pacific Ocean, where it is found from Costa Rica to the northern coast of Peru. This species grows to a length of 15 cm (5.9 in). This species is important to local peoples as a food fish. It is the only known member of its genus. This species was first formally described as Gerres aureolus in 1882 by David Starr Jordan (1851-1931) and Charles Henry Gilbert (1859-1928) with the type locality given as the Pacific Ocean at Bahia Matanhen, Nayart in Mexico. In 1994 it was placed in the genus Diapterus by Gerald R. Allen and D. Ross Robertson and after a review in 2014 it was placed in the monotypic genus Deckertichthys. The name of this genus honours Gary Dennis Deckert and compounds his surname with the Greek for fish, ichthys. Deckert was the first to recognise that D. aureolus was distinctive and has made a significant contribution to the study of the mojarras.
Aristocleidus is a genus of monogeneans erected by Justus F. Mueller in 1936. The genus has been revised by Delane C. Kritsky and Edgar F. Mendoza–Franco in 2008. The amended generic diagnosis is: species with gonads overlapping, ventral anchors with deeply incised base forming deep and superficial roots, a coiled tube of the male copulatory organ in a clockwise orientation, and haptoral hooks with upright acute thumb, slender shank comprising one subunit and FH loop.
Neodiplectanum is a genus of monopisthocotylean monogeneans, belonging to the family Diplectanidae. According to Mizelle & Blatz (1941), the genus Neodiplectanum "differs from DiplectanumDiesing, 1858, its closest relative, by the presence of two, instead of three, cuticular bars on the haptor". Oliver (1987) thought that the two genera were synonyms, but Neodiplectanum was resurrected later.
Diapterus auratus, the Irish mojarra or Irish pompano, is a species of ray-finned fish from the family Gerreidae, the mojarras. Other common names for this species are the broad shad, silver perch and muttonfish. It is found in the warmer waters of the western Atlantic Ocean.