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Percoidei

(Suborder)

Overview

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Percoidei is one of eighteen suborders of bony fish in the order Perciformes. Many commercially harvested fish species are contained in this suborder, including the snappers, jacks, whitings, groupers, bass, perches and porgies.

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The Percoidei is further divided into three superfamilies which contain over fifty families and hundreds of genera.

Taxonomy

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The Suborder Percoidei is a member of the Order Perciformes. Here is the complete "parentage" of Percoidei:

The Suborder Percoidei is further organized into finer groupings including:

Families

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Acropomatidae

Acropomatidae, also known as the lanternbellies or the temperate ocean-basses, is a family of perciform fish consisting of 33 marine species. Members of Acropoma are notable for having light-emitting organs alongside their undersides. They are found in all temperate and tropical oceans, usually at depths of several hundred meters. [more]

Ambassidae

The Asiatic glassfishes are a family, Ambassidae, of freshwater and marine fishes in the order Perciformes. The species in the family are native to the waters of Asia and Oceania and the Indian and western Pacific Oceans. The family includes eight genera and about fifty species. [more]

Aplodactylidae

Marblefishes are a family, Aplodactylidae, of perciform fishes. They are native to southern Australia, New Zealand, Peru and Chile. [more]

Apogonidae

Cardinalfishes are a family, Apogonidae, of ray-finned fishes. They are found in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans, they are chiefly marine, but some species are found in brackish water. A handful of species are kept in the aquarium and are popular as small, peaceful, and colorful fish. [more]

Arripidae

Australian Salmon, (known as 'Kahawai' in New Zealand), are medium-sized perciform marine fish of the small family Arripidae (sometimes incorrectly spelled Arripididae). Four species are recognized, all within the genus Arripis. Despite the common name, Australian Salmon are not related to the salmon (Salmonidae) of the Northern Hemisphere; the former were named so by early European settlers after their superficial resemblance to the salmoniform fishes. [more]

Banjosidae

The Banjofish (Banjos banjos) is a perciform fish, the only species in the genus Banjos and in the family Banjosidae. [more]

Bathyclupeidae

The deepsea herrings are perciform fishes belonging to a small family (Bathyclupeidae) with a single genus (Bathyclupea) containing seven species of deep water fishes. [more]

Bramidae

Pomfret are perciform fishes belonging to the family Bramidae. [more]

Caesionidae

The fusilier fishes are a family, Caesionidae, of fishes in the order Perciformes. They are related to the snappers, but adapted for feeding on plankton, rather than on larger prey. [more]

Callanthiidae

The splendid perches are a small family, Callanthiidae, of fishes in the order Perciformes. [more]

Carangidae

Carangidae is a family of fish which includes the jacks, pompanos, jack mackerels, and scads. [more]

Caristiidae

Manefishes are perciform fishes in the family Caristiidae. They are deep-sea marine fishes that eat siphonophores. [more]

Centracanthidae

Centracanthidae is a small family of fishes in the order Perciformes, known as picarels. They are found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean. The anal fin has three sharp spines, hence the name, from Greek kentron meaning "sharp point" and akantha meaning "thorn". Despite the similarity of the English or common name, it is unrelated to the pickerel or northern pike. [more]

Centrarchidae

The sunfishes are a family (Centrarchidae) of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the order Perciformes. The type genus is Centrarchus (consisting solely of the flier, C. macropterus). The family's 27 species includes many fishes familiar to North Americans, including the rock bass, largemouth bass, bluegill, pumpkinseed, and crappies. All are native only to North America. [more]

Centrogeniidae

False scorpionfish (Centrogenys vaigiensis) are perciform fish, the only species in genus Centrogenys as well as family Centrogenyidae. They are pale grey or brown and usually grow no longer than 25 centimetres (9.8 in). False scorpionfish are distributed throughout the Indo-West Pacific, bounded by the Ryukyu Islands of Japan to the north and Australia to the south, the Nicobar Islands to the west and New Guinea to the east. [more]

Centropomidae

The Centropomidae are a single genus family of freshwater and marine fishes in Order Perciformes, including the common snook or r?balo, Centropomus undecimalis. Prior to 2004, three other genera were placed in Centropomidae in subfamily Latinae, which has since been raised to the family level and renamed Latidae because a cladistic analysis showed the old Centropomidae to be paraphyletic. Each of the four species (fat, swordspine, common, and tarpon) can be easily identified by their black lateral line. They are good tablefare, and are a sought after gamefish but tricky to catch. [more]

Cepolidae

Bandfishes are a family, Cepolidae, of perciform fishes. They are native to the Atlantic seaboard of Europe and the West Pacific, including New Zealand. They dig burrows in sandy or muddy seabed and eat zooplankton. [more]

Chaetodontidae

The butterflyfish are a group of conspicuous tropical marine fish of the family Chaetodontidae; the bannerfish and coralfish are also included in this group. Found mostly on the reefs of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans, there are approximately 120 species in 10 genera. A number of species pairs occur in the Indian and Pacific oceans, members of the huge genus Chaetodon. [more]

Cheilodactylidae

Morwongs are perciform fishes comprising the family Cheilodactylidae. Most of the almost 30 species are found in temperate and subtropical oceans in the Southern Hemisphere, but three (Cheilodactylus quadricornis, C. zebra and C. zonatus) are restricted to northwest Pacific off Japan and China, and C. vittatus is restricted to Hawaii. The largest species grow up to 1.2 metres (3.9 ft), but most species only reach around half that length. They feed on small invertebrates on the ocean floor. Several species of morwong are commercially harvested as food fish, particularly in Australia. [more]

Chironemidae

The kelpfishes are a family of perciform fishes, native to coastal Australia and New Zealand. [more]

Cirrhitidae

Hawkfish are strictly tropical, perciform marine fish of the family Cirrhitidae. Associated with the coral reefs of the western and eastern Atlantic and Indo-Pacific, the hawkfish family contains 12 genera and 32 species. They share many morphological features with the scorpionfish of the family Scorpaenidae. [more]

Coiidae

Coiidae is a family of fish. Their taxonomic position is disputed: they are related to the Lobotidae and the Datnioides (such as Datnioides microlepis) and were once considered synonymous with the latter, and may be the same as the Anabas. [more]

Coryphaenidae

The Coryphaenidae are a family of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the Order Perciformes. The family contains only one genus, Coryphaena, which contains two species, both of which have compressed heads and single dorsal fins that run the entire length of the fish's bodies. Dolphinfishes are unrelated to dolphins (which are mammals) and their meat is often labeled mahi-mahi commercially to reduce possible public confusion. [more]

Dichistiidae

The galjoen fishes are a small family, Dichistiidae, of perciform fishes. There are just two species in the family in the single genus Dichistius: [more]

Dinolestidae

The long-finned pike or yellowfin pike, Dinolestes lewini, is a species of perciform fish, the only species in the genus Dinolestes as well as the familia family Dinolestidae. [more]

Dinopercidae

Dinopercidae, also known as the cavebasses, is a family of marine perciform fish consisting of a single species, , which is native to the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Angola. [more]

Drepanidae

The Drepanidae is a family of moths with about 660 species described worldwide. They are generally divided in three subfamilies (Minet and Scoble, 1999) which share the same type of hearing organ. Thyatirinae, previously often placed in their own family, bear a superficial resemblance to Noctuidae. Many species in the Drepanid family have a distinctively hook-shaped apex to the forewing, leading to their common name of hook-tips. [more]

Echeneidae

The remora (), sometimes called a suckerfish or sharksucker, is an elongated, brown fish in the order Perciformes and family Echeneidae. They grow to 30?90 centimetres long (1?3 ft), and their distinctive first dorsal fin takes the form of a modified oval sucker-like organ with slat-like structures that open and close to create suction and take a firm hold against the skin of larger marine animals. By sliding backward, the remora can increase the suction, or it can release itself by swimming forward. Remoras sometimes attach to small boats. They swim well on their own, with a sinuous, or curved, motion. [more]

Emmelichthyidae

Rovers are a family of small to medium sized marine fish. The family was once much larger, including a wide range of plankton-eating fish, but most of the genera were discovered to be unrelated examples of parallel evolution, and were moved to other families. [more]

Enoplosidae

Enoplosus armatus is a species of perciform fish, the only species in the family Enoplosidae. [more]

Epigonidae

Deepwater cardinalfishes are perciform fishes in the family Epigonidae. [more]

Gerreidae

The mojarras are a family, Gerreidae, of fishes in the order Perciformes. It has seven genera. [more]

Glaucosomatidae

The pearl perches are members of the perciform family Glaucosomatidae containing a single genus (Glaucosoma) of four species: [more]

Grammatidae

The basslets are a small family, Grammatidae, of fishes in the order Perciformes. The twelve members (in two genera) are all small fish of the western Atlantic, typically no more than 10 cm in length. Several species are colorful and popular for marine aquaria. They can also change their gender. [more]

Haemulidae

The grunts are a family, Haemulidae, of fishes in the order Perciformes. They are numerous and widespread, with about 150 species in 19 genera, found in tropical fresh, brackish and salt waters around the world. They are bottom-feeding predators, and named for their ability to produce sound by grinding their teeth. [more]

Inermiidae

The Bonnetmouths (Inermiidae) are a very small family of fishes in the order Perciformes with only two known species in two genera, the bonnetmouth and the boga. [more]

Kuhliidae

The flagtails (ahole or aholehole in the Hawaiian language) are a family (Kuhliidae) of perciform fish of the Indo-Pacific area. The family consists of several species in one genus, Kuhlia, of which, one, (K. rupestris), is freshwater. The others are marine. [more]

Kyphosidae

The sea chubs are a family, Kyphosidae, of fishes in the order Perciformes. [more]

Lactariidae

This species of fish is of the genus Lactarius in the family Lactariidae. It is also known as the milky travelly or the 'parava', and is found in , brackish, and marine waters. This fish is more commonly known as Butter Fish and in Telugu as "Methani Paara" amongst fisherman community in Andhra Pradesh, India [more]

Latridae

Trumpeters are a family of perciform fishes, Latridae. They are found in southern waters off Australia, New Zealand, and Chile, where they are fished commercially and for sport. They are closely related to Cheilodactylidae, and the majority of the species that traditionally are placed in the latter family may actually belong in Latridae. [more]

Leiognathidae

The ponyfishes also known as slipmouths or slimys are a small family, Leiognathidae, of fishes in the order Perciformes. They inhabit marine and brackish waters in the Indian Ocean and West Pacific. [more]

Leptobramidae

The beachsalmon (Leptobrama muelleri) is a species of perciform, primarily coastal marine or brackish fish and the sole representative of its family, Leptobramidae. Found in tropical coastal waters of the Western Pacific off southern New Guinea, Queensland, and Western Australia. The beachsalmon is a popular sport fish in Australia where it is sometimes called flat salmon, silver salmon, slender bream, or skippy (a name also applied to several species of trevally). [more]

Lethrinidae

The emperor breams or simply emperors also known as pigface breams are a family, Lethrinidae, of fishes in the order Perciformes. [more]

Lobotidae

Tripletails are perciform fishes in the genus Lobotes, the only genus in the family Lobotidae. [more]

Lutjanidae

Snappers are a family of perciform fish, Lutjanidae, mainly marine but with some members inhabiting estuaries, feeding in freshwater. Some are important food fish. One of the best known is the red snapper. [more]

Malacanthidae

Tilefishes, also known as blanquillo, are mostly small perciform marine fish comprising the family Malacanthidae. They are usually found in sandy areas, especially near coral reefs. [more]

Menidae

The moonfish of the genus Mene ("Crescent"), the sole extant genus of the family Menidae are disk-shaped fish which bear a vague resemblance to gourami, thanks to their thread-like pelvic fins. Today, the genus is represented only by of the Indo-Pacific, where it is a popular food fish, especially in the Philippines, where it is known as "bilong-bilong". [more]

Monodactylidae

The Monodactylidae is a family of fish within the Perciformes commonly referred to as monos, moonyfishes or fingerfishes. All are strongly laterally compressed with an approximately disc-shaped body and tall anal and dorsal fins. Unusually for fish, there are scales on the dorsal fin and sometimes on the anal fin as well. The pelvic fins are small, sometimes vestigial. They are of moderate size, typically around 25 cm in length, and Monodactylus sebae can be taller than it is long, measuring up to 30 cm from the tip of the dorsal fin down to the tip of the anal fin. It is these long, scaly fins that has given them the name of fingerfishes. Most are silvery with yellow and black markings; the juveniles are especially attractive and most species are popular as aquarium fish (see below). [more]

Moronidae

Temperate Bass is in the Family Percichthyidae How to know the freshwater fishes Samuel Eddy, James C. Underhill. [more]

Mullidae

Goatfishes are tropical marine perciform fish of the family Mullidae. Seldom found in brackish waters, goatfish are most associated with the reefs of the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. The goatfish are sometimes called the red mullets as opposed to the Mugilidae, the grey mullets, though that name is usually reserved for the red mullets of the genus Mullus of the Mediterranean. Within the family are approximately six genera and 55 species. [more]

Nandidae

Asian leaffishes are small freshwater fishes of the Nandidae family, from Southern Asia. There are only four genera in this group. [more]

Nematistiidae

The roosterfish, Nematistius pectoralis, is a game fish common in the marine waters surrounding Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama, and in the eastern Pacific Ocean from Baja California to Peru. It is the only fish in the genus Nematistius and the family Nematistiidae. It is distinguished by its "rooster comb", seven very long spines of the dorsal fin. [more]

Nemipteridae

The threadfin breams are a family, Nemipteridae, of fishes in the order Perciformes. They are also known as whiptail breams and false snappers. [more]

Notograptidae

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Opistognathidae

Opistognathidae (opisto = "behind", gnath = "mouth"), commonly referred to as jawfishes, are classified within Order Perciformes, Suborder Percoidei. They are found throughout shallow reef areas of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and the Gulf of Mexico. [more]

Oplegnathidae

Oplegnathidae is a family of marine fish within the Perciformes commonly known as knifejaws; some species are known as beakfish. It contains a single genus, Oplegnathus. The largest, the , can reach a maximum length of about 90 cm (35 in). Knifejaws have teeth fused into a parrotlike beak in adulthood. They feed on barnacles and mollusks, and are fished commercially. They are found in the north-western Pacific Ocean (e.g. Japan), in the southern half of Australia, in the Galapagos, Peru, and Chile, and in Southern Africa. [more]

Ostracoberycidae

A Family in the Kingdom Animalia.[1] [more]

Parascorpididae

A Family in the Kingdom Animalia.[2] [more]

Pempheridae

Sweepers are small, tropical marine (occasionally brackish) perciform fish of the family Pempheridae. Found in the western Atlantic Ocean and Indo-Pacific region, the family contains approximately 26 species in two genera. One species (Pempheris xanthoptera ) is the target of subsistence fisheries in Japan, where the fish is much enjoyed for its taste. Sweepers are occasionally kept in the marine aquarium. [more]

Pentacerotidae

The Armorheads are a small family, Pentacerotidae, of fishes in the order Perciformes. They are native to the Indian Ocean, western and central Pacific, and southwestern Atlantic. They are generally found at rocky reefs below normal Scuba diving depths, although several species occur in low densities at shallower depths. [more]

Percichthyidae

The members of Percichthyidae family are known as the temperate perches. They belong to the Order Perciformes or perch-like fishes. [more]

Percidae

The Percidae are a family of perciform fish found in fresh and brackish waters of the Northern Hemisphere. The family contains about 200 species in ten genera. The darters, perches, and their relatives are in this family: well-known species include the walleye, ruffe, and three species of perch. [more]

Plesiopidae

The longfins also known as roundheads or spiny basslets are a family, Plesiopidae, of fishes in the order Perciformes. They are elongated fishes, found in the Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean. [more]

Polynemidae

Threadfins are silvery grey perciform marine fish of the family Polynemidae. Found in tropical to subtropical waters throughout the world, the threadfin family contains nine genera and 33 species. An unrelated species sometimes known by the name threadfin, Alectis indicus, is properly the Indian threadfish (family Carangidae). [more]

Polyprionidae

The wreckfish are a family, Polyprionide, of perciform fishes. [more]

Pomacanthidae

Marine angelfish are perciform fish of the family Pomacanthidae. They are found on shallow reefs in the tropical Atlantic, Indian, and mostly western Pacific oceans. The family contains seven genera and approximately 86 species. They should not be confused with the freshwater angelfish, tropical cichlids of the Amazon River basin. [more]

Pomatomidae

The bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix), called tailor in Australia, is a species of popular marine gamefish found in all climates. It is the only extant species of the Pomatomidae family. [more]

Priacanthidae

Priacanthidae is a family of fish, common name bigeye, comprising 18 species of marine fishes. "Catalufa" is an alternate common name for some members of the priacanthidae family. The etymology of the scientific name ("prioo-", to bite + "akantha", thorn) refers to the family's very rough, spined scales. The common name of "bigeye" refers to the member species' unusually large eyes, suited to their carnivorous and nocturnal lifestyles. Priacanthidae are most typically colored bright red, but other coloration patterns do exist for some species. Most species reach a maximum total length of about 30 centimeters (12 inches), although in a few species lengths of over 50 centimeters (20 inches) are known. [more]

Pseudochromidae

The dottybacks are a family, Pseudochromidae, of fishes in the order Perciformes. Around 100 species belong to this family. [more]

Rachycentridae

Cobia (Rachycentron canadum)?also known as black kingfish, black salmon, ling, lemonfish, crabeaters, aruan tasek, etc.?are perciform marine fish, the sole representative of their family, the Rachycentridae. [more]

Sciaenidae

Sciaenidae is a family of fish commonly called drums, croakers, or hardheads for the repetitive throbbing or drumming sounds they make. The family includes the weakfish, and consists of about 275 species in about 70 genera; it belongs to the order Perciformes. [more]

Scombropidae

The gnomefishes are a small family Scombropidae of marine fish, consisting of three species in the genus Scombrops. [more]

Serranidae

Serranidae is a large family of fishes, belonging to the order Perciformes. The family contains about 450 species of serranids in 64 genera, including the sea basses and the groupers (subfamily Epinephelinae). They range in size from the belted sandfish (Serranus subligarius), which grows to 110 mm (4.33 in), up to the itajara (Epinephelus itajara), which grows to 2.4 m (94.5 in) and weighs up to 300 kg (660 lb). [more]

Sillaginidae

The Sillaginidae, commonly known as the smelt-whitings, whitings, sillaginids, sand borers and sand-smelts, are a family of benthic coastal marine fishes in the order Perciformes. The smelt-whitings inhabit a wide region covering much of the Indo-Pacific, from the west coast of Africa east to Japan and south to Australia. The family comprises only three genera and thirty one species, of which a number are dubious, with the last major revision of the family in 1992 unable to confirm the validity of a number of species. They are elongate, slightly compressed fish often light brown to silver in color with a variety of markings and patterns on their upper body. The Sillaginidae are not related to a number of fishes commonly called 'whiting' in the Northern Hemisphere, including the fish originally called whiting, Merlangius merlangus. [more]

Sparidae

The Sparidae is a family of fish, included in the order Perciformes. The fish of the family are commonly called sea breams and porgies (North America). The sheepshead, scup, and red sea bream are species in this family. They are found in shallow temperate and tropical waters and are bottom-dwelling carnivores. Most species possess grinding, molar-like teeth. Some of the species, such as Polysteganus undulosus, have been subject to overfishing, or exploitation beyond sustainable recovery. [more]

Symphysanodontidae

The Symphysanodontidae are a family of small marine fishes. The family Symphysanodontidae comprises only the genus Symphysanodon. They occur in the Indo-Pacific and . [more]

Terapontidae

Grunters or tigerperches are fishes in the family Terapontidae (also spelled Teraponidae, Theraponidae or Therapontidae). They are found in shallow coastal waters in the Indian Ocean and western Pacific, where they live in saltwater, brackish and freshwater habitats. They grow up to 80 cm in length and feed on fishes, insects and other invertebrates. [more]

Toxotidae

The archerfish (Spinner Fish or Archer Fish) are a family (Toxotidae) of fish known for their habit of preying on land based insects and other small animals by literally shooting them down with water droplets from their specialized mouths. The family is small, consisting of seven species in the genus Toxotes; which typically inhabit brackish waters of estuaries and mangroves, but can also be found in the open ocean as well as far upstream in fresh waterIndia to the Philippines, Australia, and Polynesia. [more]

At least 13 species and subspecies belong to the Family Toxotidae.

More info about the Family Toxotidae may be found here.

Footnotes

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  1. http://www.ubio.org/browser/details.php?namebankID=114279
  2. http://www.ubio.org/browser/details.php?namebankID=114287

Sources

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Last Revised: August 24, 2012
2012/08/24 13:17:56