Serranus

Serranus Temporal range: Early Oligocene–present PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Serranus baldwini
Serranus cabrilla
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Division:	Teleostei
Order:	Perciformes
Family:	Serranidae
Genus:	Serranus G. Cuvier, 1816
Type species
Perca cabrilla Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms [1]
Hepatus Artedi, 1793 Mentiperca Gill, 1862 Neanthias Norman, 1931 Novanthias Whitley, 1937 Paracentropristis Klunzinger, 1884 Prionodes Jenyns, 1840 Serranellus D.S. Jordan, 1890

Serranus is a genus of fish in the family Serranidae. ^[2] It is one of five genera known commonly as the "Atlantic dwarf sea basses". ^[3] These fish are hermaphrodites, each individual possessing functional male and female reproductive tissues. When a pair spawns, one fish acts as a male and the other acts as a female. ^[4]

Species

There are currently 34 recognized species in this genus: ^[5]

• Serranus accraensis (Norman, 1931) (Ghanean comber)
• Serranus aequidens C. H. Gilbert, 1890 (Deep-water bass)
• Serranus aliceae Carvalho-Filho & C. E. L. Ferreira, 2013 ^[3]
• Serranus annularis (Günther, 1880) (Orange-back bass)
• Serranus atricauda Günther, 1874 (Blacktail comber)
• Serranus atrobranchus (Cuvier, 1829) (Black-ear bass)
• Serranus baldwini (Evermann & Marsh, 1899) (Lantern bass)
• Serranus cabrilla (Linnaeus, 1758) (Comber)
• Serranus chionaraia C. R. Robins & Starck, 1961 (Snow bass)
• Serranus drewesi Iwamoto, 2018 (Drewes' bass)
• Serranus flaviventris (Cuvier, 1829) (Twin-spot bass)
• Serranus fusculus (Poey, 1861) (twospot sea bass)
• Serranus hepatus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Brown comber)
• Serranus heterurus (Cadenat, 1937)
• Serranus huascarii Steindachner, 1900 (Flag bass)
• Serranus inexpectatus Wirtz & Iwamoto, 2018
• Serranus knysnaensis Gilchrist, 1904
• Serranus luciopercanus Poey, 1852 (Cross-hatch bass)
• Serranus maytagi C. R. Robins & Starck, 1961
• Serranus notospilus Longley, 1935 (Saddle bass)
• Serranus novemcinctus Kner, 1864 (Barred bass)
• Serranus papilionaceus Valenciennes, 1832
• Serranus phoebe Poey, 1851
• Serranus psittacinus Valenciennes, 1846 (Barred comber)
• Serranus pulcher Wirtz & Iwamoto, 2016 (São Tomé comber) ^[6]
• Serranus sanctaehelenae Boulenger, 1895 (St. Helena comber)
• Serranus scriba (Linnaeus, 1758) (Painted comber)
• Serranus socorroensis G. R. Allen & D. R. Robertson, 1992 (Socorro bass)
• Serranus stilbostigma (D. S. Jordan & Bollman, 1890)
• Serranus subligarius (Cope, 1870) (Belted bass)
• Serranus tabacarius (Cuvier, 1829) (Tobaccofish)
• Serranus tico G. R. Allen & D. R. Robertson, 1998
• Serranus tigrinus (Bloch, 1790) (Harlequin bass)
• Serranus tortugarum Longley, 1935 (Chalk bass)

The following fossil species are known: ^[7]

• † Serranus altus Gorjanović-Kramberger, 1882 - Middle to Late Miocene of Croatia & Turkey ^{[8] [9]}
• † Serranus gracilispinis Siebenrock, 1900 - Neogene of Bosnia
• † Serranus pentacanthus Heckel, 1861 - Middle Miocene of Austria
• † Serranus muelleri Rückert-Ülkümen, 1994 - Middle Miocene of Turkey ^[9]
• † Serranus rudis Bassani, 1889 - Early Miocene of Italy
• † Serranus stiriacus Heckel, 1854 - Early Oligocene of Slovenia ^[10]
• † Serranus validus Gorjanović-Kramberger, 1895 - Early Oligocene of Slovenia ^[10]

In the past, various fossil fish from the Late Paleocene onwards have been classified within Serranus ^[11] , making it a wastebasket taxon. However, such a classification is now known to be inaccurate, and likely a consequence of Serranus sharing a generalized morphology shared by various unrelated percomorphs. ^{[12] [13]} Some species formerly classified in the genus from the Eocene have been reclassified into new genera or synonymous with other non-serranid species. ^{[14] [15]}

References

1. Fricke, Ron; Eschmeyer, William N. & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Serraninae". Catalog of Fishes . California Academy of Sciences . Retrieved 7 September 2020.
2. Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Species in genus Serranus". FishBase . August 2022 version.
3. Carvalho Filho, A.; Ferreira, C.E.L. (2013). "A new species of dwarf sea bass, genus Serranus (Serranidae: Actinopterygii), from the southwestern Atlantic Ocean". Neotropical Ichthyology. 11 (4): 809–814. doi: 10.1590/s1679-62252013000400008 .
4. García-Díaz, M.; González, J.A.; Lorente, M.J.; Tuset, V.M. (2006). "Spawning season, maturity sizes, and fecundity in blacktail comber (Serranus atricauda) (Serranidae) from the eastern-central Atlantic" (PDF). Fishery Bulletin. 104 (2): 159–166.
5. Fricke, Ron; Eschmeyer, William N. & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Serranus". Catalog of Fishes . California Academy of Sciences . Retrieved 27 November 2025.
6. Wirtz, P.; Iwamoto, T. (2016). "A New Species of Serranus from São Tomé and Príncipe, Eastern Atlantic (Pisces, Teleostei, Serranidae)". Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences. 63 (6): 191–200.
7. Geology, British Museum (Natural History) Department of; Woodward, Arthur Smith (1901). Catalogue of the Fossil Fishes in the British Museum (Natural History): Actinopterygian Teleostomi of the suborders Isospondyli (in part), Ostariophysi, Apodes, Percesoces, Hemibranchii, Acanthopterygii, and Anacanthini. order of the Trustees.
8. Schwarzhans, Werner; Carnevale, Giorgio; Bannikov, Alexandre F.; Japundžić, Sanja; Bradić, Katarina (2017). "Otoliths in situ from Sarmatian (Middle Miocene) fishes of the Paratethys. Part I: Atherina suchovi Switchenska, 1973". Swiss Journal of Palaeontology. 136 (1): 7–17. Bibcode:2017SwJP..136....7S. doi:10.1007/s13358-015-0111-0. hdl: 2318/1632311 . ISSN   1664-2376.
9. Neriman, Rückert-Ülkümen (1994). "Erstnachweis der Teleostei-Genera Lucioperca, Serranus und Lates in sarmatischen Ablagerungen von Thrakien, Türkei". Mitteilungen der Bayerischen Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und Histor. Geologie (in German). 34. Archived from the original on 2024-09-15.
10. S.v, Popov; M.a, Akhmetiev; E.m, Bugrova; A.v, Lopatin; O.v, Amitrov; A.s, Andreyeva-Grigorovich; N.i, Zaporozhets; V.v, Zherikhin; V.a, Krasheninnikov; I.a, Nikolaeva; E.k, Sytchevskaya; I.g, Shcherba (2002). "BIOGEOGRAPHY OF THE NORTHERN PERI-TETHYS FROM THE LATE EOCENE TO THE EARLY MIOCENE: PART 2. EARLY OLIGOCENE". Paleontological Journal. 36. ISSN   0031-0301.
11. Sepkoski, J.J.Jr (2002). "A Compendium of Fossil Marine Animal Genera". Bulletins of American Paleontology. 363: 1–560.
12. Bannikov, A. F. (2000). "New Data on Late Paleocene Marine Percoids (Perciformes) of Turkmenistan". Journal of Ichthyology. 40 (8): 564–570.
13. Bannikov, Alexandre F.; Carnevale, Giorgio (2005). "The Eocene "Dules" temnopterus Agassiz, 1836 from Monte Bolca, and the problem of classifying fossil percoid fishes". Palaeontographia Italica. 91 (91): 69–84.
14. Bannikov, Alexandre F. (2006). "Fishes from the Eocene of Bolca, northern Italy, previously classified in the Sparidae, Serranidae and Haemulidae (Perciformes)". Geodiversitas. 28 (2): 249–275.
15. Schwarzhans, Werner; Beckett, Hermione T.; Schein, Jason D.; Friedman, Matt (2018). "Computed tomography scanning as a tool for linking the skeletal and otolith-based fossil records of teleost fishes". Palaeontology. 61 (4): 511–541. Bibcode:2018Palgy..61..511S. doi:10.1111/pala.12349. hdl: 2027.42/144669 . ISSN   1475-4983.