Sciaenidae are a

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

fish Fish are Aquatic animal, aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack Limb (anatomy), limbs with Digit (anatomy), digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and Chondrichthyes, cartilaginous and bony fish as we ...

in the order

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 Th ...

. 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 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 c ...

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

. Sciaenids are found worldwide, in both fresh and salt water, and are typically

benthic The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from ancient Greek, βένθος (bénthos), meaning " ...

carnivores, feeding on

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chorda ...

s 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 (e.g. reef croaker, high-hat, and spotted drum). They live in warm-temperate and tropical waters and are best represented in major rivers in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

, northeast

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sou ...

, the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...

, and the

Gulf of California The Gulf of California ( es, Golfo de California), also known as the Sea of Cortés (''Mar de Cortés'') or Sea of Cortez, or less commonly as the Vermilion Sea (''Mar Bermejo''), is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Baja C ...

. In the United States most fishers consider freshwater drum to be rough fish not suitable for eating, similar to

carp Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish from the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. While carp is consumed in many parts of the world, they are generally considered an invasive species in parts of ...

, gar, and buffalo fish, although there are a number of people that enjoy fishing for these species and eating them, despite their limitations.

Fisheries

Corvina (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 11 July 1865)

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 (FAO fishing area 51) and northwest Pacific (FAO fishing area 61). The future of croakers, like many other fish species in the United States and around the world is uncertain because overfishing continues to be a major threats. The population has decreased significantly which will affect their ability reproduce. In United States Croakers are managed by the federal and state governments to ensure that they're harvested sustainably.

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

. 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 A tendon or sinew is a tough, high-tensile-strength band of dense fibrous connective tissue that connects muscle to bone. It is able to transmit the mechanical forces of muscle contraction to the skeletal system without sacrificing its ability ...

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 Bottlenose dolphins are aquatic mammals in the genus ''Tursiops.'' They are common, cosmopolitan members of the family Delphinidae, the family of oceanic dolphins. Molecular studies show the genus definitively contains two species: the comm ...

to easily locate large groups of croaker and drum as they broadcast their position, indicating large amounts of food for the dolphins.

Genera

*'' Aplodinotus'' *'' Argyrosomus'' *'' Aspericorvina'' *'' Atractoscion'' *'' Atrobucca'' *'' Austronibea'' *'' Bahaba'' *'' Bairdiella'' *'' Boesemania'' *'' Cheilotrema'' *'' Chrysochir'' *'' Cilus'' *'' Collichthys'' *'' Corvula'' *'' Ctenosciaena'' *''

Cynoscion ''Cynoscion'' is a genus of fish in the drum family, Sciaenidae. It contains the weakfish and seatrouts. Species The genus consists of 24 species: * '' Cynoscion acoupa'' (Lacepède, 1801) -- Acoupa weakfish * '' Cynoscion albus'' (Günther, ...

'' *'' Daysciaena'' *'' Dendrophysa'' *'' Elattarchus'' *'' Equetus'' *'' Genyonemus'' *'' Isopisthus'' *'' Jefitchia'' *''

Johnius ''Johnius'' is a genus of fishes in the family 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 famil ...

'' *'' Kathala'' *'' Larimichthys'' *'' Larimus'' *'' Leiostomus'' *'' Lonchurus'' *'' Macrodon'' *'' Macrospinosa'' *'' Megalonibea'' *''

Menticirrhus ''Menticirrhus'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fish belonng to the family Sciaenidae, the drums or croakers. They are commonly known as kingcroakers or kingfish. These fish are found in the Western Atlantic and Eastern Pacific Oceans. Taxonomy ...

'' *'' Micropogonias'' *'' Miichthys'' *'' Miracorvina'' *''

Nebris ''Nebris'' is a small genus of fish in the family Sciaenidae. Species There are currently two recognized species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as ...

'' *''

Nibea ''Nibea'' is a genus of fish in the family Sciaenidae family. It contains ten accepted species: * ''Nibea albiflora'' (Richardson, 1846) * ''Nibea chui'' Trewavas, 1971 * ''Nibea coibor'' (Hamilton, 1822) * ''Nibea leptolepis'' (Ogilby, 19 ...

'' *'' Odontoscion'' *'' Ophioscion'' *'' Otolithes'' *'' Otolithoides'' *'' Pachypops'' *'' Pachyurus'' *'' Panna'' *'' Paralonchurus'' *'' Paranebris'' *'' Paranibea'' *'' Pareques'' *'' Pennahia'' *'' Pentheroscion'' *'' Petilipinnis'' *'' Plagioscion'' *'' Pogonias'' *'' Protonibea'' *'' Protosciaena'' *'' Pseudotolithus'' *'' Pteroscion'' *'' Pterotolithus'' *'' Robaloscion'' *'' Roncador'' *'' Sciaena'' *'' Sciaenops'' *'' Seriphus'' *'' Sonorolux'' *'' Stellifer'' *''

Totoaba The totoaba or totuava (''Totoaba macdonaldi'') is a species of marine fish, a very large member of the drum family Sciaenidae that is endemic to the Gulf of California in Mexico. It is the only species in the genus ''Totoaba''. Formerly abunda ...

'' *''

Umbrina ''Umbrina'' is a genus of fish from the croaker family 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. ...

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: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:(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 that lasted from about 66 to 56 million years ago (mya). It is the first epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name is a combination of the Ancient Greek ''pala ...

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

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

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 t ...

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

Paleogene The Paleogene ( ; also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene; informally Lower Tertiary or Early Tertiary) is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning o ...

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. ...

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color:miocene bar:NAM5 from: -23.03 till: 0 text: Pogonias color:miocene bar:NAM6 from: -23.03 till: 0 text:

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:

color:miocene bar:NAM10 from: -11.608 till: 0 text:

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:(line,black) width:25 bar:period from: -65.5 till: -55.8 color:paleocene text: