The Percidae 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 ...

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 h ...

, part of 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 ...

, which are found in fresh and

brackish Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estu ...

waters of the

Northern Hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the Equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined as being in the same celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the solar system as Earth's Nort ...

. The majority are

Nearctic The Nearctic realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting the Earth's land surface. The Nearctic realm covers most of North America, including Greenland, Central Florida, and the highlands of Mexico. The parts of North America t ...

, but there are also

Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sibe ...

species. The family contains more than 200 species in 11 genera. The perches, and their relatives are in this family; well-known species include the

walleye The walleye (''Sander vitreus'', synonym ''Stizostedion vitreum''), also called the yellow pike or yellow pickerel, is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern United States. It is a North American close relat ...

sauger The sauger (''Sander canadensis'') is a freshwater perciform fish of the family Percidae that resembles its close relative, the walleye. The species is a member of the largest vertebrate order, the Perciformes.Jaeger, Matthew. 2004. Montana's ...

ruffe The Eurasian ruffe (''Gymnocephalus cernua''), also known as ruffe or pope, is a freshwater fish found in temperate regions of Europe and northern Asia. It has been introduced into the Great Lakes of North America, reportedly with unfortuna ...

, and three species of

perch Perch is a common name for fish of the genus ''Perca'', freshwater gamefish belonging to the family Percidae. The perch, of which three species occur in different geographical areas, lend their name to a large order of vertebrates: the Per ...

. However, small fish known as

darters The darters, anhingas, or snakebirds are mainly tropical waterbirds in the family Anhingidae, which contains a single genus, ''Anhinga''. There are four living species, three of which are very common and widespread while the fourth is rarer and ...

are also a part of this family.

Characteristics

The family is characterised by having 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 ...

split into two which are normally separated or have a narrow connection, although this is wider in the genus ''Zingel'', the front section contains the spines and the rear section contains the 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 ...

contains 1 or 2 spines, if there is a second spine it is typically weak. The

pelvic fins Pelvic fins or ventral fins are paired fins located on the ventral surface of fish. The paired pelvic fins are homologous to the hindlimbs of tetrapods. Structure and function Structure In actinopterygians, the pelvic fin consists of two e ...

are placed on the

thorax The thorax or chest is a part of the anatomy of humans, mammals, and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main divisions of the cre ...

and have a single spine and 5 soft rays. They also have skeletal synapomorphies. The maximum size attained in in the

zander The zander (''Sander lucioperca''), sander or pikeperch, is a species of ray-finned fish from the family Percidae, which includes the perches, ruffes and darters. It is found in freshwater and brackish habitats in western Eurasia. It is a popul ...

(''Sander lucioperca'') but most of the species in the family are much smaller. Their scales are

ctenoid A fish scale is a small rigid plate that grows out of the skin of a fish. The skin of most jawed fishes is covered with these protective scales, which can also provide effective camouflage through the use of reflection and colouration, as ...

and their bodies are normally somewhat elongate.

Systematics

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 ...

'' classifies the Percidae into five subfamilies and Fishbase recognises 239 species in 11 genera. * Subfamily Percinae Rafinesque, 1815 ** Genus '' Perca''

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

, 1758 * Subfamily

Acerinae ''Gymnocephalus'' is a genus of ray-finned fishes from the family Percidae, which includes the perches, pike-perches and darters. They are from the Western Palearctic area, although one species, ''Gymnocephalus cernua'' has been accidentally in ...

Bleeker Bleeker is a Dutch occupational surname. Bleeker is an old spelling of ''(linnen)bleker'' ("linen bleacher").Gymnocephalus ''Gymnocephalus'' is a genus of ray-finned fishes from the family Percidae, which includes the perches, pike-perches and darters. They are from the Western Palearctic area, although one species, '' Gymnocephalus cernua'' has been accidentally ...

'' Bloch, 1793 * Subfamily

Percarininae ''Percarina'' is a genus of ray-finned fish in the family Percidae found in eastern Europe. The genus is the only taxon in the monotypic subfamily Percarininae, which is characterised by having the first dorsal fin, having 9-11 spines and being w ...

Gill A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are ...

, 1861 ** Genus '' Percarina'' Nordmann, 1840 * Subfamily

Luciopercinae The Luciopercinae is a subfamily of ray-finned fish, classified within the Family (biology), family Percidae, the subfamily includes the pike-perches and zingels. The pike-perches of the genus ''Zander, Sander'' have an Holarctic distribution whi ...

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

& Evermann, 1896 ** Tribe Luciopercini Jordan & Evermann 1896 *** Genus ''

Sander A sander is a power tool used to smooth surfaces by abrasion with sandpaper. Sanders have a means to attach the sandpaper and a mechanism to move it rapidly contained within a housing with means to hand-hold it or fix it to a workbench. Woodw ...

'' Oken, 1817 ** Tribe

Romanichthyini Romanichthyini is a tribe (taxonomy), tribe of freshwater ray-finned fish which is one of two tribes in the subfamily Luciopercinae, which in turn is classified under the Family (biology), family Percidae, the family also includes the perches, Sa ...

Dumitrescu, Bănărescu & Stoica 1957 *** Genus '' Romanichthys'' Dumitrescu, Bănărescu & Stoica 1957 *** Genus ''

Zingel ''Zingel'' is a genus of fish in the family Percidae. They are long and slender, reaching 12 to 48 cm in length. They are found in rivers and streams in Europe. They feed mainly on aquatic invertebrates such as crustaceans and insect larvae ...

'' Cloquet, 1817 * Subfamily

Etheostomatinae Etheosomatidae is a species rich subfamily of freshwater ray-finned fish, the members of which are commonly known as the darters. The subfamily is part of the family Percidae which also includes the perches, ruffes and pikeperches. The family i ...

Agassiz, 1850 ** Genus ''

Ammocrypta ''Ammocrypta'' is a genus of freshwater ray-finned fish, commonly known as the sand darters, which is classified in the subfamily Etheostomatinae, part of the Family (biology), family Percidae which also includes the perches, Gymnocephalus, ruffe ...

'' Jordan, 1877 ** Genus '' Etheostoma'' Rafinesque, 1817 ** Genus ''

Nothonotus ''Nothonotus'' is a genus or subgenus of freshwater ray-finned fish, a darter from the subfamily Etheostomatinae, part of the family Percidae, which also contains the perches, ruffes and pikeperches. It is endemic to the southeastern United Sta ...

'' Putnam, 1863 ** Genus '' Percina'' Haldeman, 1842

Fossil genera

* †''

Mioplosus ''Mioplosus'' is an extinct genus of percid fish that lived from the early to middle Eocene. Five species of the genus has been described, ''Mioplosus labracoides'' is found in the Green River Formation Lagerstätte. ''Mioplosus'' has numerous ...

Cope The cope (known in Latin as ''pluviale'' 'rain coat' or ''cappa'' 'cape') is a liturgical vestment, more precisely a long mantle or cloak, open in front and fastened at the breast with a band or clasp. It may be of any liturgical colour. A c ...

, 1877 * †'' Priscacara'' Cope, 1877

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q746136 Perciformes families Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque