Family SCIAENIDAE

Sciaenidae

© Copyright Ros Poole.

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Introduction

The family Sciaenidae includes species normally referred to as croakers and drums, terms descriptive of their ability to produce sounds. About 70 genera and some 270 species have been recorded worldwide (Nelson 2006). The Australian fauna includes nine genera and 18 described and two undescribed species.

Sciaenids occur worldwide mostly in marine and estuarine environments of tropical and warm temperate areas; some are confined to fresh water. They are usually found in shallow coastal environments, but some extend onto the continental shelf. Most species have large and complex swimbladders and large otoliths. In many parts of the world they are important commercial fishes.

In Australia, the two largest species are called mulloway (Australian jewfish) and teraglin. Mulloway, Argyrosomus japonicus, the largest of the two, reaches a length of 2 m (Gomon 1994). Previously, mulloway was reported under the names Sciaena antarctica and Argyrosomus hololepidotus. Argyrosomus hololepidotus, however, is now known to be restricted to the waters of Madagascar. Teraglin, Atractoscion aequidens, reaches lengths of up to 1.3 m and may weigh over 19 kg.

Sasaki (1989, 1996) discussed zoogeography and relationships within the family, and revised Indian Ocean species. Indo-Pacific species were reviewed by Trewavas (1977) and most of the tropical Australian species are treated by Sasaki (2001). Johnius, a complex genus, requires further work to clarify and define species and their names.

Dendrophysa albida Cuvier, recorded by Whitley (1964) and McCulloch (1929) as Sciaena albida, was shown by Sasaki (1996) to be restricted to India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

Sciaenids are currently under study by K. Sasaki, of Kochi University, Japan, who kindly reviewed this chapter and provided unpublished information.

General References

Gomon, M.F. 1994. Family Sciaenidae. pp. 602-603, fig. 532 in Gomon, M.F., Glover, C.J.M. & Kuiter, R.H. (eds). The Fishes of Australia's South Coast. Adelaide : State Printer 992 pp. 810 figs.

Hoese, D.F., Bray, D.J., Paxton, J.R. & Allen, G.R. 2006. Fishes. In, Beesley, P.L. & Wells, A. (eds) Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Vol. 35. Volume 35 Australia : ABRS & CSIRO Publishing Parts 1-3, 2178 pp.

McCulloch, A.R. 1929. A check-list of the fishes recorded from Australia. Part II. Memoirs of the Australian Museum 5: 145–329

Nelson, J.S. 2006. Fishes of the World. Hoboken, New Jersey : John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 601 pp.

Sasaki, K. 1989. Phylogeny of the family Sciaenidae, with notes on its zoogeography (Teleostei, Perciformes). Memoirs of the Faculty of Fisheries, Hokkaido University 36(1/2): 1-137

Sasaki, K. 1996. Sciaenid fishes of the Indian Ocean (Teleostei, Perciformes). Memoirs of the Faculty of Science. Kôchi University D Biol. 16/17: 83-95

Sasaki, K. 2001. Sciaenidae. pp. 3117-3174 in Carpenter, K.E. & Niem, V.H. (eds). The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. Rome : FAO Vol. 5 2791-3379 pp.

Trewavas, E. 1977. The sciaenid fishes (croakers or drums) of the Indo-West Pacific. Transactions of the Zoological Society of London 33: 253-541 figs 1-61 pls 1-14

Whitley, G.P. 1964. A survey of Australian Ichthyology. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 89(1): 11-127

Common Name References

Sasaki, K. 2001. Sciaenidae. pp. 3117-3174 in Carpenter, K.E. & Niem, V.H. (eds). The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. Rome : FAO Vol. 5 2791-3379 pp. [3117] (Croakers, Drums)

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