The Sparidae are a

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 ...

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

in the order

Perciformes Perciformes (), also called the Percomorpha or Acanthopteri, is an order or superorder of ray-finned fish. If considered a single order, they are the most numerous order of vertebrates, containing about 41% of all bony fish. Perciformes means ...

, commonly called sea breams and porgies. The sheepshead,

scup The scup (''Stenotomus chrysops'') is a fish which occurs primarily in the Atlantic from Massachusetts to South Carolina. Along with many other fish of the family Sparidae, it is also commonly known as porgy. Scup grow as large as 18 in (450&n ...

, and

red seabream Red seabream is a name given to at least two species of fish of the family Sparidae, ''Pagrus major'' and ''Pagellus bogaraveo''. ''Pagrus major'' ''Pagrus major'' is of great culinary and cultural importance in Japan, and is known as mad ...

are species in this family. Most sparids are deep-bodied compressed fish with a small mouth separated by a broad space from the eye, a single dorsal fin with strong spines and soft rays, a short anal fin, long pointed pectoral fins and rather large firmly attached scales. They are found in shallow temperate and tropical waters and are bottom-dwelling carnivores. There are hermaphrodites in the Sparidae.

Protogyny Sequential hermaphroditism (called dichogamy in botany) is a type of hermaphroditism that occurs in many fish, gastropods, and plants. Sequential hermaphroditism occurs when the individual changes its sex at some point in its life. In particular, ...

and

protandry Sequential hermaphroditism (called dichogamy in botany) is a type of hermaphroditism that occurs in many fish, gastropods, and plants. Sequential hermaphroditism occurs when the individual changes its sex at some point in its life. In particular, ...

appear sporadically through this lineage of fish.

Simultaneous hermaphrodite Simultaneous hermaphroditism is one of the two types of hermaphroditism, the other type being sequential hermaphroditism. In this form of hermaphroditism an individual has sex organs of both sexes and can produce both gamete types even in the sam ...

s and bi-directional hermaphrodites do not appear as much since Sparidae are found in shallower waters. Species of fish that express a hermaphroditic condition usually "lack a genetic hardwire", therefore ecological factors play a role in sex determination. Most species possess grinding, molar-like teeth. Eating the head is known to cause hallucinations, lasting many days. Some of the species, such as ''

Polysteganus undulosus ''Polysteganus'' is a genus of fish in the family Sparidae. Species There are currently 8 recognized species in this genus: * '' Polysteganus baissaci'' M. M. Smith, 1978 (French-man seabream) * '' Polysteganus cerasinus'' Iwatsuki & Heemstr ...

'', have been subject to

overfishing Overfishing is the removal of a species of fish (i.e. fishing) from a body of water at a rate greater than that the species can replenish its population naturally (i.e. the overexploitation of the fishery's existing fish stock), resulting in th ...

, or exploitation beyond sustainable recovery.

Genera

The family Sparidae contains about 155 species in 38 genera: * ''

Acanthopagrus ''Acanthopagrus'' is a genus of fish in the family Sparidae found in the Indian and western Pacific Oceans. Species There are currently 20 recognized species in this genus: * '' Acanthopagrus akazakii'' Iwatsuki, Kimura & Yoshino, 2006 (New ...

'' Peters, 1855 * ''

Amamiichthys ''Amamiichthys matsubarai'' also known as the hoshierenko is a species of fish in the family Sparidae found only in Amami Island, Ryukyu Islands in Japan. This species is the only known member of the genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxo ...

'' Tanaka & Iwatsuki, 2015 * '' Archosargus'' Gill, 1865 * ''

Argyrops ''Argyrops'' is a genus of fishes belonging to the family Sparidae. The species of this genus are found in the coasts of Indian Ocean and near Australia. Species: *'' Argyrops bleekeri'' *'' Argyrops caeruleops'' *'' Argyrops filamentosus'' ...

'' Swainson, 1839 * '' Argyrozona'' Smith, 1938 * ''

Boops ''Boops'' (; from Greek , literally 'cow-eye') is a genus of ray-finned saltwater fishes. The genus contains two species, '' B. boops'' and '' B. lineatus''. ''Sarpa salpa ''Sarpa salpa'', known commonly as the dreamfish, salema, salema porg ...

'' Cuvier, 1814 * '' Boopsoidea'' Castelnau, 1861 * ''

Calamus Calamus may refer to: Botany and zoology * ''Calamus'' (fish), a genus of fish in the family Sparidae * ''Calamus'' (palm), a genus of rattan palms * Calamus, the hollow shaft of a feather, also known as the quill * '' Acorus calamus'', the swe ...

'' Swainson, 1839 * '' Centracanthus'' Rafinesque, 1810 * ''

Cheimerius ''Cheimerius nufar'', also known as the Santer seabream, is a species in the family Sparidae and is found in the Indian Ocean, from the Red Sea, down to the southern Cape coast in South Africa and as far east as India and Sri Lanka. This species i ...

'' Smith, 1938 * '' Chrysoblephus'' Swainson, 1839 * ''

Crenidens ''Crenidens'' is a small genus of three species of seabream from the family Sparidae from the western Indian Ocean. It was previously regarded as monotypic, with the sole species being the Karenteen sea bream '' Crenidens crenidens'' but two oth ...

'' Valenciennes, 1830 * ''

Cymatoceps The black musselcracker (''Cymatoceps nasutus'') is a South African species of marine fish in the family Sparidae. It is the only species of its genus ''Cymatoceps''. It reaches in length and almost in weight. It is found in coastal rocky area ...

'' Smith, 1938 * ''

Dentex ''Dentex'' is a genus of fish in the family Sparidae. Species There are currently 14 recognized species in this genus: * ''Dentex abei'' Iwatsuki, Akazaki & Taniguchi, 2007 (Yellowfin seabream) * ''Dentex angolensis'' Poll & Maul, 1953 (Angol ...

'' Cuvier, 1814 * ''

Diplodus ''Diplodus'' is a genus of fish in the family Sparidae, found in the Atlantic and Indian Ocean. Species There are currently 23 recognized species in this genus: * '' Diplodus annularis'' (Linnaeus, 1758) (Annular seabream) * '' Diplodus argenteu ...

'' Rafinesque, 1810 * '' Evynnis'' Jordan & Thompson, 1912 * '' Gymnocrotaphus'' Günther, 1859 * '' Lagodon'' Holbrook, 1855 * '' Lithognathus'' Swainson, 1839 * ''

Oblada The saddled seabream (''Oblada melanura''), also called the saddle bream or oblade, is a species of fish of the family Sparidae. It is monotypic in the genus ''Oblada''. Description It has a fuse-shaped blueish-silver body, with a black spot ne ...

'' Cuvier, 1829 * '' Pachymetopon'' Günther, 1859 * ''

Pagellus ''Pagellus'' is a genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and belo ...

'' Valenciennes, 1830 * ''

Pagrus ''Pagrus'' is a genus of fish in the family Sparidae. It contains at least six described species: *''Pagrus africanus'', Southern common seabream (Akazaki, 1962) *''Pagrus auratus'', Silver seabream or Australasian snapper (Forster, 1801) * ...

'' Cuvier, 1816 * '' Parargyrops'' Tanaka, 1916 * '' Petrus'' Smith, 1938 * '' Polyamblyodon'' Norman, 1935 * '' Polysteganus'' Klunzinger, 1870 * '' Porcostoma'' Smith, 1938 * '' Pterogymnus'' Smith, 1938 * ''

Rhabdosargus ''Rhabdosargus'' is a genus of fish in the family Sparidae. Species There are currently 6 recognized species in this genus: * '' Rhabdosargus globiceps'' Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Vali ...

'' Fowler, 1933 * ''

Sarpa SARPA S.A.S. (''Servicios Aéreos Panamericanos S.A.S.'') is an air charter and air ambulance operator, with its main base at El Dorado International Airport in Bogotá, and an auxiliary base in Medellín. History The airline was founded in June ...

'' Bonaparte, 1831 * '' Sparidentex'' Munro, 1948 * ''

Sparodon ''Sparodon'', commonly known as the white musselcracker, musselcracker seabream, mussel cracker seabream, brusher, or cracker. is a monotypic genus of fish in the family Sparidae. The type and only known species, ''Sparodon durbanensis'', was fi ...

'' Smith, 1938 * ''

Sparus The gilt-head (sea) bream (''Sparus aurata''), known as Orata in antiquity and still today in Italy and Tunisia (known as "Dorada" in Spain, "Dourada" in Portugal and "Dorade Royale" in France), is a fish of the bream family Sparidae found in t ...

'' Linnaeus, 1758 * '' Spicara'' Rafinesque, 1810 * ''

Spondyliosoma ''Spondyliosoma'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Sparidae, which includes the seabreams and porgies. The genus contains two species, one, the black seabream, from the eastern Atlantic Ocean and the other, the steentj ...

'' Cantor, 1849 * '' Stenotomus'' Gill, 1865 * '' Virididentex'' Poll, 1971

Timeline of 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(0.4,0.3,0.196) id:HER value:teal id:HAD value:green id:OMN value:blue id:black value:black id:white value:white id:cenozoic value:rgb(0.54,0.54,0.258) id:paleogene value:rgb(0.99,0.6,0.32) id:paleocene value:rgb(0.99,0.65,0.37) id:eocene value:rgb(0.99,0.71,0.42) id:oligocene value:rgb(0.99,0.75,0.48) id:neogene value:rgb(0.999999,0.9,0.1) id:miocene value:rgb(0.999999,0.999999,0) id:pliocene value:rgb(0.97,0.98,0.68) id:quaternary value:rgb(0.98,0.98,0.5) id:pleistocene value:rgb(0.999999,0.95,0.68) id:holocene value:rgb(0.999,0.95,0.88) 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:space bar:period bar:space bar:era PlotData= align:center textcolor:black fontsize:M mark:(line,black) width:25 shift:(7,-4) bar:periodtop from: -65.5 till: -55.8 color:paleocene text:

Paleocene The Paleocene, ( ) or Palaeocene, is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 66 to 56 mya (unit), million years ago (mya). It is the first epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), E ...

from: -55.8 till: -33.9 color:eocene text:

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene' ...

from: -33.9 till: -23.03 color:oligocene text:

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the ...

from: -23.03 till: -5.332 color:miocene text:

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

from: -5.332 till: -2.588 color:pliocene text: Plio. from: -2.588 till: -0.0117 color:pleistocene text:

Pleist. The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed in ...

from: -0.0117 till: 0 color:holocene text: H. bar:eratop from: -65.5 till: -23.03 color:paleogene text:

Paleogene The Paleogene ( ; British English, also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene; informally Lower Tertiary or Early Tertiary) is a geologic period, geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period million yea ...

from: -23.03 till: -2.588 color:neogene text:

Neogene The Neogene ( ), informally Upper Tertiary or Late Tertiary, is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period Mya. ...

from: -2.588 till: 0 color:quaternary text: Q. PlotData= align:left fontsize:M mark:(line,white) width:5 anchor:till align:left color:eocene bar:NAM1 from: -55.8 till: 0 text:

color:eocene bar:NAM2 from: -55.8 till: 0 text: Sargus color:eocene bar:NAM3 from: -55.8 till: 0 text:

color:eocene bar:NAM4 from: -55.8 till: 0 text:

color:eocene bar:NAM5 from: -48.6 till: 0 text:

color:eocene bar:NAM6 from: -48.6 till: 0 text:

color:eocene bar:NAM7 from: -37.2 till: 0 text:

color:oligocene bar:NAM8 from: -33.9 till: 0 text:

color:miocene bar:NAM9 from: -23.03 till: 0 text: Lithognathus color:miocene bar:NAM10 from: -15.97 till: 0 text:

color:miocene bar:NAM11 from: -11.608 till: 0 text:

PlotData= align:center textcolor:black fontsize:M mark:(line,black) width:25 bar:period from: -65.5 till: -55.8 color:paleocene text:

from: -55.8 till: -33.9 color:eocene text:

from: -33.9 till: -23.03 color:oligocene text:

from: -23.03 till: -5.332 color:miocene text:

from: -5.332 till: -2.588 color:pliocene text: Plio. from: -2.588 till: -0.0117 color:pleistocene text:

from: -0.0117 till: 0 color:holocene text: H. bar:era from: -65.5 till: -23.03 color:paleogene text:

from: -23.03 till: -2.588 color:neogene text:

from: -2.588 till: 0 color:quaternary text: Q.

Cookery

The most celebrated of the breams in cookery are the

gilt-head bream The gilt-head (sea) bream (''Sparus aurata''), known as Orata in antiquity and still today in Italy and Tunisia (known as "Dorada" in Spain, "Dourada" in Portugal and "Dorade Royale" in France), is a fish of the bream family Sparidae found in th ...

and the

common dentex The common dentex (''Dentex dentex'') is a species of fish in the family Sparidae. Etymology Genus and species Latin name ''Dentex'' is related to ''dentēs'' which means "teeth". Description Adult dentex can reach a length of , and weight ...

. Davidson, A. ''Mediterranean Seafood'', Penguin, 1972. , pp. 86–108.

References

{{Authority control Sport fish Marine fish families Articles which contain graphical timelines Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque

Genera

Timeline of genera

Cookery

See also

References