The Sparidae 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. Ideal ...
of
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, 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 ma ...
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'', 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 i ...
, 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''
Tanaka & Iwatsuki, 2015
* ''
Archosargus''
Gill, 1865
* ''
Argyrops''
Swainson, 1839
* ''
Argyrozona''
Smith, 1938
* ''
Boops
''Boops'' (; from Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the ...
''
Cuvier, 1814
* ''
Boopsoidea''
Castelnau, 1861
* ''
Calamus''
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
Sri Lan ...
''
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''
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''
Cuvier, 1829
* ''
Pachymetopon''
Günther, 1859
* ''
Pagellus''
Valenciennes, 1830
* ''
Pagrus''
Cuvier, 1816
* ''
Parargyrops''
Tanaka, 1916
* ''
Petrus''
Smith, 1938
* ''
Polyamblyodon''
Norman, 1935
* ''
Polysteganus''
Klunzinger, 1870
* ''
Porcostoma''
Smith, 1938
* ''
Pterogymnus''
Smith, 1938
* ''
Rhabdosargus''
Fowler, 1933
* ''
Sarpa''
Bonaparte, 1831
* ''
Sparidentex''
Munro, 1948
* ''
Sparodon''
Smith, 1938
* ''
Sparus''
Linnaeus, 1758
* ''
Spicara''
Rafinesque, 1810
* ''
Spondyliosoma''
Cantor, 1849
* ''
Stenotomus''
Gill, 1865
* ''
Virididentex''
Poll, 1971
Timeline of genera
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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 ''palai ...
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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'', "daw ...
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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 recent" ...
from: -5.332 till: -2.588 color:pliocene text: Plio.
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from: -65.5 till: -23.03 color:paleogene text:Paleogene
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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:eocene bar:NAM1 from: -55.8 till: 0 text: Sparus
color:eocene bar:NAM2 from: -55.8 till: 0 text: Sargus
color:eocene bar:NAM3 from: -55.8 till: 0 text: Pagrus
color:eocene bar:NAM4 from: -55.8 till: 0 text: Dentex
color:eocene bar:NAM5 from: -48.6 till: 0 text: Pagellus
color:eocene bar:NAM6 from: -48.6 till: 0 text: Oblada
color:eocene bar:NAM7 from: -37.2 till: 0 text: 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 ...
color:oligocene bar:NAM8 from: -33.9 till: 0 text: Calamus
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''Boops'' (; from Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the ...
color:miocene bar:NAM11 from: -11.608 till: 0 text: 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 ...
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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'', "daw ...
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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 recent" ...
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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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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.
[ Davidson, A. ''Mediterranean Seafood'', Penguin, 1972. , pp. 86–108.]
See also
*
Porgie fishing
Porgy is the common name in the US for any fish which belongs to the family Sparidae. They are also called bream. Porgies live in shallow temperate marine waters and are bottom-dwelling carnivores. Most species possess grinding, molar-like teeth. ...
References
{{Authority control
Sport fish
Marine fish families
Articles which contain graphical timelines
Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque