Plagioscion | |
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Plagioscion auratus (above), Plagioscion squamosissimus (below) | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Acanthuriformes |
Family: | Sciaenidae |
Genus: | Plagioscion T. N. Gill, 1861 |
Type species | |
Sciaena squamosissima Heckel, 1840 | |
Synonyms [1] | |
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Plagioscion is a genus of freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Sciaenidae, the drums and croakers. They are found in tropical and subtropical South America where they inhabit fresh and brackish waters. [2] [3] Some species (notably P. squamosissimus and P. surinamensis) are important food fish and support major fisheries. [4]
Depending on the exact species, they reach up to about 30–80 cm (1.0–2.6 ft) in length. [2] In general, the various species are similar and are not easily separated by meristics or colour. [3]
Plagioscion sometimes occur in schools. [4] They are predators and the adults are essentially piscivorous. [2] [4] The largest in the genus, P. squamosissimus, mainly feeds on fish smaller than 15 cm (6 in), but may take ones up to about 60% of the length of the Plagioscion itself. [4]
Although the family Sciaenidae primarily is marine, there are four genera with freshwater species in South America. In addition to Plagioscion, this is Pachypops , Pachyurus and Petilipinnis . [3] [4]
Plagoscion was first proposed as a genus in 1861 by the American biologist Theodore Gill without including any species. The type species was later designated as Sciaena squamosissima by Jordan and Eigenmann, [1] this species had been described in 1840 by Johann Jakob Heckel with its type locality given as Suriname. [5] This genus has been placed in the subfamily Cynoscioninae by some workers, [6] but the 5th edition of Fishes of the World does not recognise subfamilies within the Sciaenidae which it places in the order Acanthuriformes. [7]
Plagioscion is a combination of plagio, meaning "oblique", and scion, the modern Greek name of Umbrina cirrosa , which Gill preferred over sciaena because he did not like the sound of Cynosciaena. Gill did not explain what palgio was alluding to but he did mention that the crest and margin of the preoperculum were "oblique, nearly parallel". [8]
FishBase currently recognizes 7 species in this genus. [2] The validity of P. casattii and P. surinamensis are questionable (both possibly junior synonyms of P. squamosissimus). [3] In contrast, genetic analysis indicates that two currently unrecognized, cryptic species exist. [9]
Catalog of Fishes includes the following species: [5]
P. casattii and P. surinamensis are treated as synonyms of P. squamosissmus. [5]
Sciaenidae is a family of ray-finned fishes belonging to the order Acanthuriformes. 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.
Menticirrhus is a genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Sciaenidae, the drums or croakers. They are commonly known as kingcroakers or kingfish. These fish are found in the Western Atlantic and Eastern Pacific Oceans.
Geophagus is a genus of cichlids that mainly live in South America as far south as Argentina and Uruguay, but a single species, G. crassilabris is from Panama. They are found in a wide range of freshwater habitats. They are part of a group popularly known as eartheaters and mostly feed by picking up mouthfuls of sediment to sift out food items such as invertebrates, plant material and detritus. The largest species reach up to 28 cm (11 in) in standard length. They are mostly kept in aquariums.
Argyrosomus is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Sciaenidae, the drums. The fish in this genus are large and are commonly targeted as game fish.
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 this genus have been given the common name weakfish.
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.
Panna is a genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Sciaenidae, the drums and croakers. These fishes are found in southern and southeast Asia.
Corvula is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Sciaenidae, the drums and croakers. These fishes are found in the western Atlantic Ocean and the central eastern Pacific Ocean.
Bairdiella is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Sciaenidae, the drums and croakers. These fishes are found in the western Atlantic and eastern Pacific Ocean.
Otolithes ruber, commonly known as the tigertooth croaker, silver teraglin, wiretooth, snapper kob, snapper salmon, Yankee whiting or Yankee salmon is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Sciaenidae, the drums and croakers. This species is found in the Indo-Pacific region.
Umbrina is a genus of fish from the croaker family Sciaenidae. The genus contains 17 species occurring in tropical and warm temperate waters of the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, the Western Indian Ocean and the eastern Pacific.
Atractoscion is a genus of marine ray-finned fished belonging to the family Sciaenidae, the drums and croakers. The fishes in this genus are found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Odontoscion dentex, the reef croaker or brown large-eyed croaker, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Sciaenidae, the drums and croakers. It is found in coral and rocky reefs of the tropical Western Atlantic, living as solitary individuals or in small groups at a depth of 1 to 30 m. This species feeds on small fish, shrimp, and larvae.
Collichthys is a genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Sciaenidae, the drums and croakers. The fishes in the genus are found in the Western Pacific Ocean off the coasts of China, Japan, the Korean Peninsula and Vietnam.
Ctenosciaena is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Sciaenidae, the drums and croakers. These fishes are found in the Western Atlantic and southeastern Pacific Oceans.
Johnius dussumieri, the sin croaker, Dussumier's croaker, Dussumier's silver jewfish, sharptooth hammer croaker or whiskered croaker, is a marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Sciaenidae, the drums and croakers. This fish is found in the Indian Ocean.
Pachypops is a small genus of freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Sciaenidae, the drums and croakers. The three recognised species in the genus are found in South America.
Pachyurus is a genus of freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Sciaenidae, the drums and croakers. The ten recognised species in the genus are found in South America.
Paralonchurus 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 with one species in the western Atlantic Ocean.
Pennahia is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Sciaenidae, the drums and croakers. The fishes in this genus are found in the Indo-West Pacific region.