''Atractoscion'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of marine

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or hor ...

ed belonging to the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Sciaenidae Sciaenidae are a family of fish in the order Acanthuriformes. 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 gen ...

, the drums and croakers. The fishes in this genus are found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans.

Taxonomy

''Atractoscion'' was first proposed as a

monospecific genus In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

in 1862 by the American

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

Theodore Gill Theodore Nicholas Gill (March 21, 1837 – September 25, 1914) was an American ichthyologist, mammalogist, malacologist and librarian. Career Born and educated in New York City under private tutors, Gill early showed interest in natural histor ...

with ''Otolithus aequidens'', a species described in 1830 by

Georges Cuvier Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, Baron Cuvier (; 23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier, was a French natural history, naturalist and zoology, zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuvier ...

from the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...

, designated as its

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

. This genus is classified in the family Sciaenidae which is placed within the

suborder Order ( la, ordo) is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and ...

Sciaenoidei of the

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

Acanthuriformes Acanthuriformes is an order of ray-finned fishes, part of the Percomorpha clade. Some authorities place the fishes in the order within the Acanthuriformes in the suborders Acanthuroidea and Percoidea of the order Perciformes. Classification The ...

in the 5th edition of ''

Fishes of the World ''Fishes of the World'' by the American ichthyologist Joseph S. Nelson (1937–2011) is a standard reference for fish systematics. Now in its fifth edition (2016), the work is a comprehensive overview of the diversity and classification of the ...

''.

Etymology

''Atractoscion'' is a combination of ''atracto'', which means "spindle", an allusion Gill did not explain, but it mau have referred to the more cylindrical body shape of this genus in comparison to the typical members of the Sciaenidae, with ''scion'', the modern Greek name of ''

Umbrina cirrosa ''Umbrina cirrosa'', the shi drum, is a species of marine fish from the warmer waters of the eastern Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea. It is a commercially important species which is trawled for and farmed in aquaculture, as w ...

'', Gill preferring this over “sciaena” because he considered that it sounded better.

Species

There are currently 5 recognized species in this genus: * ''

Atractoscion aequidens The geelbeck croaker (''Atractoscion aequidens''), also known as the African weakfish or Cape salmon, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Sciaenidae, the drums and croakers. This species is found in the southwestern India ...

'' (Cuvier, 1830) (Geelbeck croaker) * ''

Atractoscion atelodus ''Atractoscion'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fished belonging to the family Sciaenidae, the drums and croakers. The fishes in this genus are found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. Taxonomy ''Atractoscion'' was first proposed as a ...

'' ( Günther, 1867) (Small lunate caudal fin croaker) * ''

Atractoscion macrolepis ''Atractoscion'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fished belonging to the family Sciaenidae, the drums and croakers. The fishes in this genus are found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. Taxonomy ''Atractoscion'' was first proposed as a ...

'' Y. S. Song, J. K. Kim, J. H. Kang & S. Y. Kim, 2017 (Large scale lunate caudal fin croaker) * ''

Atractoscion microlepis ''Atractoscion'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fished belonging to the family Sciaenidae, the drums and croakers. The fishes in this genus are found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. Taxonomy ''Atractoscion'' was first proposed as a ...

'' . S. Song, J. K. Kim, J. H. Kang & S. Y. Kim, 2017 (Small scale lunate caudal fin croaker) * ''Atractoscion nobilis'' (William Orville Ayres">Ayres, 1860) (White weakfish)

Characteristics

''Atractoscion'' fishes are characterised by having elongate fusiform, compressed bodies with an oval cross-section. They have moderately sized eyes. The slightly oblique mout opens at the front and has a slightly protruding lower jaw. There are no barbels or pores on the chin and the preoperculum has a smooth margin. They have a raised ridge along the centre of their bellies. The

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through conv ...

has a long base with a deep incision separating the spined and soft-rayed portions of the fin and it has 10 or 11 spines and between 21 and 23 soft rays. The

anal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

has 2 thin, short spines and 9 or 10 soft rays. They have short

pelvic The pelvis (plural pelves or pelvises) is the lower part of the trunk, between the abdomen and the thighs (sometimes also called pelvic region), together with its embedded skeleton (sometimes also called bony pelvis, or pelvic skeleton). The ...

and

pectoral fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as ...

s. They have small, rough scales apart from around the eyes where the scales are smooth. There are no scales in the fins. The teeth are cardiform or pluriserial, and the

caudal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

is slightly emarginate to lunate. The largest species in the genus is the

white seabass White seabass or white weakfish, ''Atractoscion nobilis'', is a species of croaker occurring from Magdalena Bay, Baja California, to Juneau, Alaska. They usually travel in schools over deep rocky bottoms (0–122 m) and in and out of kelp beds. ...

(''A. nobilis'') which has a maximum published

total length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology. Overall length * Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish ...

of .

Distribution and habitat

''Atractoscion'' croakers are found in the south eastern Atlantic, southwestern Indian, northern Indian, western and eastern Pacific Oceans. These are coastal fishes often found in estuaries.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q136749 Sciaenidae Taxa named by Theodore Gill Ray-finned fish genera