Sciaenidae

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**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

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### 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

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## 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.