Sciaenidae


Sciaenidae are a family of fish in the order Perciformes. They are commonly called drums or croakers in reference to the repetitive throbbing or drumming sounds they make. The family consists of about 286 to 298 species in about 66 to 70 genera.

Characteristics

A sciaenid has a long dorsal fin reaching nearly to the tail, and a notch between the rays and spines of the dorsal, although the two parts are actually separate. Drums are somberly coloured, usually in shades of brown, with a lateral line on each side that extends to the tip of the caudal fin. The anal fin usually has two spines, while the dorsal fins are deeply notched or separate. Most species have a rounded or pointed caudal fin. The mouth is set low and is usually inferior. Their croaking mechanism involves the beating of abdominal muscles against the swim bladder.
Sciaenids are found worldwide, in both fresh and salt water, and are typically benthic carnivores, feeding on invertebrates and smaller fish. They are small to medium-sized, bottom-dwelling fishes living primarily in estuaries, bays, and muddy river banks. Most of these fish types avoid clear waters, such as coral reefs and oceanic islands, with a few notable exceptions. They live in warm-temperate and tropical waters and are best represented in major rivers in Southeast Asia, northeast South America, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Gulf of California.
In the United States most fisherman consider freshwater drum to be rough fish not suitable for eating, similar to carp, gar, and buffalo fish, although there are a number of people that enjoy fishing for these species and eating them, despite their limitations.

Fisheries

They are excellent food and sport fish, and are commonly caught by surf and pier fishers. Some are important commercial fishery species, notably small yellow croaker with reported landings of 218,000–407,000 tonnes in 2000–2009; according to FAO fishery statistics, it was the 25th most important fishery species worldwide. However, a large proportion of the catch is not reported at species level; in the FAO fishery statistics, the category "Croakers, drums, not elsewhere included", is the largest one within sciaenids, with annual landings of 431,000–780,000 tonnes in 2000–2009, most of which were reported from the western Indian Ocean and northwest Pacific.

Croaking mechanism

A notable trait of sciaenids is the ability to produce a "croaking" sound. However the pitch and use of croaking varies species to species. The croaking ability is a distinguishing characteristic of sciaenids. The croaking mechanism is used by males as a mating call in some species.
To produce the croaking sound, special muscles vibrate against the swim bladder. These muscles are called sonic muscle fibres, and run horizontally along the fish's body on both sides around the swim bladder, connected to a central tendon that surrounds the swim bladder ventrally. These sonic muscle fibres are repeatedly contracted against the swim bladder to produce the croaking sound that gives drum and croaker their common name, effectively using the swim bladder as a resonating chamber. The sciaenids' large swim bladder is more expansive and branched than other species, which aids in the croaking. In some species the sonic muscle fibres are only present in males. These muscles strengthen during the mating season and are allowed to atrophy the rest of the time, deactivating the croaking mechanism. In other species, most notably the Atlantic croaker, the croaking mechanism is present in both sexes and remains active year-round. These species are thought to use croaking for communication, such as announcing hazards and location when in turbid water.

Croaking in communication

In some species, croaking is used for communication aside from attracting mates. For those species that have year-round croaking ability, the croaks may serve as a low-aggression warning during group feeding, as well as to communicate location in cloudy water. In those species that lack the ability to croak year-round, croaking is usually restricted to males for attracting mates. A disadvantage to the croaking ability is that it allows bottlenose dolphin to easily locate large groups of croaker and drum as they broadcast their position, indicating large amounts of food for the dolphins.

Genera


ImageSize = width:1000px height:auto barincrement:15px
PlotArea = left:10px bottom:50px top:10px right:10px
Period = from:-65.5 till:10
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:-65.5
ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:-65.5
TimeAxis = orientation:hor
AlignBars = justify
Colors =
#legends
id:CAR value:claret
id:ANK value:rgb
id:HER value:teal
id:HAD value:green
id:OMN value:blue
id:black value:black
id:white value:white
id:cenozoic value:rgb
id:paleogene value:rgb
id:paleocene value:rgb
id:eocene value:rgb
id:oligocene value:rgb
id:neogene value:rgb
id:miocene value:rgb
id:pliocene value:rgb
id:quaternary value:rgb
id:pleistocene value:rgb
id:holocene value:rgb
BarData=
bar:eratop
bar:space
bar:periodtop
bar:space
bar:NAM1
bar:NAM2
bar:NAM3
bar:NAM4
bar:NAM5
bar:NAM6
bar:NAM7
bar:NAM8
bar:NAM9
bar:NAM10
bar:NAM11
bar:NAM12
bar:NAM13
bar:NAM14
bar:NAM15
bar:NAM16
bar:space
bar:period
bar:space
bar:era
PlotData=
align:center textcolor:black fontsize:M mark: width:25
shift:
bar:periodtop
from: -65.5 till: -55.8 color:paleocene text:Paleocene
from: -55.8 till: -33.9 color:eocene text:Eocene
from: -33.9 till: -23.03 color:oligocene text:Oligocene
from: -23.03 till: -5.332 color:miocene text:Miocene
from: -5.332 till: -2.588 color:pliocene text:Plio.
from: -2.588 till: -0.0117 color:pleistocene text:Pleist.
from: -0.0117 till: 0 color:holocene text:H.
bar:eratop
from: -65.5 till: -23.03 color:paleogene text:Paleogene
from: -23.03 till: -2.588 color:neogene text:Neogene
from: -2.588 till: 0 color:quaternary text:Q.
PlotData=
align:left fontsize:M mark: width:5 anchor:till align:left
color:oligocene bar:NAM1 from: -28.4 till: 0 text: Larimus
color:miocene bar:NAM2 from: -23.03 till: 0 text: Argyrosomus
color:miocene bar:NAM3 from: -23.03 till: 0 text: Ctenosciaena
color:miocene bar:NAM4 from: -23.03 till: 0 text: Nebris
color:miocene bar:NAM5 from: -23.03 till: 0 text: Pogonias
color:miocene bar:NAM6 from: -23.03 till: 0 text: Umbrina
color:miocene bar:NAM7 from: -15.97 till: 0 text: Sciaenops
color:miocene bar:NAM8 from: -11.608 till: 0 text: Bairdiella
color:miocene bar:NAM9 from: -11.608 till: 0 text: Cynoscion
color:miocene bar:NAM10 from: -11.608 till: 0 text: Menticirrhus
color:miocene bar:NAM11 from: -11.608 till: 0 text: Sciaena
color:pliocene bar:NAM12 from: -5.332 till: 0 text: Aplodinotus
color:pliocene bar:NAM13 from: -5.332 till: 0 text: Seriphus
color:pleistocene bar:NAM14 from: -2.588 till: 0 text: Genyonemus
color:pleistocene bar:NAM15 from: -2.588 till: 0 text: Pennahia
color:pleistocene bar:NAM16 from: -2.588 till: 0 text: Roncador
PlotData=
align:center textcolor:black fontsize:M mark: width:25
bar:period
from: -65.5 till: -55.8 color:paleocene text:Paleocene
from: -55.8 till: -33.9 color:eocene text:Eocene
from: -33.9 till: -23.03 color:oligocene text:Oligocene
from: -23.03 till: -5.332 color:miocene text:Miocene
from: -5.332 till: -2.588 color:pliocene text:Plio.
from: -2.588 till: -0.0117 color:pleistocene text:Pleist.
from: -0.0117 till: 0 color:holocene text:H.
bar:era
from: -65.5 till: -23.03 color:paleogene text:Paleogene
from: -23.03 till: -2.588 color:neogene text:Neogene
from: -2.588 till: 0 color:quaternary text:Q.