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


 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


 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.

Category:Ray-finned fish