''Pennahia'' 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 ...

es 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

Indo-West Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...

region.

Taxonomy

''Pennahia'' was first proposed as a subgenus of '' Johnius'' in 1926 by the American

ichthyologist Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish ( Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 33,400 species of fish had been described as of Octobe ...

Henry Weed Fowler Henry Weed Fowler (March 23, 1878 – June 21, 1965) was an American zoologist born in Holmesburg, Pennsylvania. He studied at Stanford University under David Starr Jordan. He joined the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia and worked as ...

with ''Otolithus macrophthalmus'', which had been described by

Pieter Bleeker Pieter Bleeker (10 July 1819 – 24 January 1878) was a Dutch medical doctor, ichthyologist, and herpetologist. He was famous for the ''Atlas Ichthyologique des Indes Orientales Néêrlandaises'', his monumental work on the fishes of East Asia ...

in 1849 from

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

, as the

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 ...

. ''O. macropthalmus'' was later shown to be synonymous with ''Johnius aneus'', a species described by Marcus Elieser Bloch from Malabar in 1793. This genus has been placed in the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

Otolithinae by some workers, but 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 ...

'' does not recognise subfamilies within the Sciaenidae which it places in 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 ...

Etymology

''Pennahia'' derives from ''pinnah'', a local

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

name for the

Species

''Pennahia'' contains the following recognised species: * '' Pennahia aneus'' (

Bloch Bloch is a surname of German origin. Notable people with this surname include: A–F * (1859-1914), French rabbi *Adele Bloch-Bauer (1881-1925), Austrian entrepreneur *Albert Bloch (1882–1961), American painter * (born 1972), German motor journal ...

, 1793) (Donkey croaker) * '' Pennahia argentata'' ( Houttuyn, 1782) (Silver croaker) * ''

Pennahia macrocephalus ''Pennahia'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Sciaenidae, the drums and croakers. The fishes in this genus are found in the Indo-West Pacific region. Taxonomy ''Pennahia'' was first proposed as a subgenus of '' Johni ...

'' (

Tang Tang or TANG most often refers to: * Tang dynasty * Tang (drink mix) Tang or TANG may also refer to: Chinese states and dynasties * Jin (Chinese state) (11th century – 376 BC), a state during the Spring and Autumn period, called Tang (唐) b ...

, 1937) (Big-head pennah croaker) * ''

Pennahia ovata ''Pennahia'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Sciaenidae, the drums and croakers. The fishes in this genus are found in the Indo-West Pacific region. Taxonomy ''Pennahia'' was first proposed as a subgenus of '' Johni ...

Sasaki Sasaki () is the 13th most common Japanese surname. Less common variants are 佐咲, 佐佐木 and 笹木. Notable people with the surname include: Overview *, Japanese figure skater *, Japanese alpine skier *, Japanese idol and singer *, Japane ...

, 1996 * ''

Pennahia pawak ''Pennahia'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Sciaenidae, the drums and croakers. The fishes in this genus are found in the Indo-West Pacific region. Taxonomy ''Pennahia'' was first proposed as a subgenus of '' Johni ...

'' (

Lin Lin or LIN may refer to: People *Lin (surname) (normally ), a Chinese surname *Lin (surname) (normally 蔺), a Chinese surname * Lin (''The King of Fighters''), Chinese assassin character *Lin Chow Bang, character in Fat Pizza Places *Lin, Iran, ...

, 1940) (Pawak croaker)

Characteristics

''Pennahia croakers'' have a pair of pores on the tip of the chin, one on either side of the tip, and these are not connected by a groove. The

swim bladder The swim bladder, gas bladder, fish maw, or air bladder is an internal gas-filled Organ (anatomy), organ that contributes to the ability of many bony fish (but not cartilaginous fish) to control their buoyancy, and thus to stay at their curren ...

is shaped like a carrot and has branched appendages along the whole of each side with the forward most appendages not crossing the

transverse septum The septum transversum is a thick mass of cranial mesenchyme, formed in the embryo, that gives rise to parts of the thoracic diaphragm and the ventral mesentery of the foregut in the developed human being and other mammals. Origins The septum tr ...

. The branches have poorly developed upper limbs. The

sagitta Sagitta is a dim but distinctive constellation in the northern sky. Its name is Latin for 'arrow', not to be confused with the significantly larger constellation Sagittarius 'the archer'. It was included among the 48 constellations listed by t ...

is shaped like a

tadpole A tadpole is the larval stage in the biological life cycle of an amphibian. Most tadpoles are fully aquatic, though some species of amphibians have tadpoles that are terrestrial. Tadpoles have some fish-like features that may not be found i ...

and hasi its "tail" only slightly arched. The largest species in the genus is the silver croaker ''P. argentata'' which has a maximum published

standard 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 m ...

of while the smallest ''P. ovata'' which has a maximum published standard length of .

Distribution

''Pennahia'' croakers are found in the Indo-West Pacific region from the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea east to the north western Pacific Ocean.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2745266 Sciaenidae Taxa named by Henry Weed Fowler