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_ <small>Rafinesque, 1819</small>
- _Argyrosomus_ <small>De la Pylaie, 1835</small>
- _Aspericorvina_ <small>Fowler, 1834</small>
- _Atractoscion_ <small>Gill, 1862</small>
- _Atrobucca_ <small>Chu, Lo & Wu, 1963</small>
- _Austronibea_ <small>Trewavas, 1977</small>
- _Bahaba_ <small>Herre, 1935</small>
- _Bairdiella_ <small>Gill, 1861</small>
- _Boesemania_ <small>Trewavas, 1977</small>
- _Cheilotrema_ <small>Tschudi, 1846</small>
- _Chrysochir_ <small>Trevawas & Yazdani, 1966</small>
- _Cilus_ <small>Delfin, 1900</small>
- _Collichthys_ <small>Günther, 1860</small>
- _Corvula_ <small>Jordan & Eigenmann, 1889</small>
- _Ctenosciaena_ <small>Fowler & B. A. Bean, 1923</small>
- _Cynoscion_ <small>Gill, 1861</small>
- _Daysciaena_ <small>Talwar, 1971</small>
- _Dendrophysa_ <small>Trewavas, 1964</small>
- _Elattarchus_ <small>Jordan & Evermann, 1896</small>
- _Eques_ <small>Bloch 1793</small>
- _Genyonemus_ <small>Gill, 1861</small>
- _Isopisthus_ <small>Gill, 1862</small>
- _Johnius_ <small>Bloch, 1793</small>
- _Kathala_ <small>Lal Mohan 1969</small>
- _Larimichthys_ <small>Jordan & Starks, 1905</small>
- _Larimus_ <small>Cuvier, 1830</small>
- _Leiostomus_ <small>Lacépède, 1802</small>
- _Lonchurus_ <small>Bloch, 1793</small>
- _Macrodon_ <small>Schinz, 1822</small>
- _Macrospinosa_ <small>Lal Mohan, 1969</small>
- _Megalonibea_ <small>Chu, Lo & Wu, 1963</small>
- _Menticirrhus_ <small>Gill, 1861</small>
- _Micropogonias_ <small>Bonaparte, 1831</small>
- _Miichthys_ <small>Lin, 1938</small>
- _Miracorvina_ <small>Trewavas, 1962</small>
- _Nebris_ <small>Cuvier, 1830</small>
- _Nibea_ <small>Jordan & W. F. Thompson, 1911</small>
- _Odontoscion_ <small>Gill, 1862</small>
- _Ophioscion_ <small>Gill, 1863</small>
- _Otolithes_ <small>Oken, 1817</small>
- _Otolithoides_ <small>Fowler, 1933</small>
- _Pachypops_ <small>Gill, 1861</small>
- _Pachyurus_ <small>Agassiz, 1831</small>
- _Panna_ <small>Lal Mohan, 1969</small>
- _Paralonchurus_ <small>Bocourt, 1869</small>
- _Paranebris_ <small>Chao, Béarez and Robertson, 2001</small>
- _Paranibea_ <small>Trewavas, 1977</small>
- _Pareques_ <small>Gill _in_ Goode, 1876</small>
- _Pennahia_ <small>Fowler, 1926</small>
- _Pentheroscion_ <small>Trewavas, 1962</small>
- _Petilipinnis_ <small>Casatti, 2002</small>
- _Plagioscion_ <small>Gill, 1861</small>
- _Pogonias_ <small>Lacépède, 1801</small>
- _Protonibea_ <small>Trewavas, 1971</small>
- _Protosciaena_ <small>Sasaki, 1989</small>
- _Pseudolarimichthys_ <small>Lo, Liu, Mohd Nor & Chen, 2017</small>
- _Pseudotolithus_ <small>Bleeker, 1863</small>
- _Pteroscion_ <small>Fowler, 1925</small>
- _Pterotolithus_ <small>Fowler 1933</small>
- _Robaloscion_ <small>Béarez & Schwarzhans 2014</small>
- _Roncador_ <small>Jordan & Gilbert, 1880</small>
- _Sciaena_ <small>Linnaeus, 1758</small>
- _Sciaenops_ <small>Gill, 1863</small>
- _Seriphus_ <small>Ayres, 1860</small>
- _Sonorolux_ <small>Trewavas, 1977</small>
- _Stellifer_ <small>Oken, 1817</small>
- _Totoaba_ <small>Villamar, 1980</small>
- _Umbrina_ <small>Cuvier, 1816</small>

### Fossil record

- †_Jefitchia_ <small>Frizzell & Dante, 1965</small>
- †_Lompoquia_ <small>Jordan & Gilbert, 1919</small>

## 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

## References

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