''Cynoscion'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of marine

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fish or actinopterygians, is a class of bony fish that comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. They are so called because of their lightly built fins made of webbings of sk ...

es belonging to the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Sciaenidae Sciaenidae is a family (biology), family of ray-finned fishes belonging to the Order (biology), order Acanthuriformes. They are commonly called drums or croakers in reference to the repetitive throbbing or drumming sounds they make. The family co ...

, the drums and croakers. These fishes are found off the coasts of North and South America in the western Atlantic and eastern Pacific Oceans. Many fishes in this genus have been given the common name weakfish.

Taxonomy

''Cynoscion'' was first proposed as a

monospecific genus In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

in 1861 by the American biologist Theodore Gill with ''Johnnius regalis'', a species originally described in 1801 from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

by Marcis Elieser Bloch and Johann G. T. Schneider, designated as its

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, 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 spe ...

. 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 botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

Cynoscioninae by some workers, but the 5th edition of ''

Fishes of the World ''Fishes of the World'' is a standard reference for the systematics of fishes. It was first written in 1976 by the American ichthyologist Joseph S. Nelson (1937–2011). Now in its fifth edition (2016), the work is a comprehensive overview of t ...

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

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...

Acanthuriformes Acanthuriformes is a large, diverse order of mostly marine ray-finned fishes, part of the Percomorpha clade. In the past, members of this clade were placed in the suborders Acanthuroidea and Percoidea of the order Perciformes, but this treatment ...

Etymology

''Cynoscion'' is a combination of ''cyno'', meaning "dog", a reference to the pair of canine-like teeth in the upper jaw, with ''scion'', the modern Greek language, Greek name of ''Umbrina cirrosa'', which Gill preferred over ''sciaena'' because he did not like the sound of ''Cynosciaena''. The common name, weakfish, is a reference to the easily torn membrane in the mouth of ''C. regalis''.

Species

The genus consists of 25 species: * ''Cynoscion acoupa'' (Bernard Germain de Lacépède, Lacépède, 1801) (Acoupa weakfish) * ''Cynoscion albus'' (Günther, 1864) (Whitefin weakfish) * ''Cynoscion analis'' (Leonard Jenyns, Jenyns, 1842) (Peruvian weakfish) * ''Cynoscion arenarius'' (Isaac Ginsburg, Ginsburg, 1930) (Sand seatrout) * ''Cynoscion guatucupa'' (Cuvier, 1830) (Stripped weakfish) * ''Cynoscion jamaicensis'' (Louis Vaillant, Vaillant and Marie Firmin Bocourt, Bocourt, 1883) (Jamaica weakfish) * ''Cynoscion leiarchus'' (Georges Cuvier, Cuvier, 1830) (Smooth weakfish) * ''Cynoscion microlepidotus'' (Cuvier, 1830) (Smallscale weakfish) * ''Cynoscion nannus'' (José Luis Castro Aguirre, Castro-Aguirre & Joaquin Arvizu-Martinez, Arvizu-Martinez, 1976) (Dwarf weakfish) * ''Cynoscion nebulosus'' (Cuvier, 1830) (Spotted seatrout) * ''Cynoscion nortoni'' (Philippe Béarez, Béarez, 2001) (Hake weakfish) * ''Cynoscion nothus'' (John Edwards Holbrook, Holbrook, 1848) (Silver seatrout) * ''Cynoscion othonopterus'' (Jordan and Charles Henry Gilbert, Gilbert, 1882) (Gulf weakfish) * ''Cynoscion parvipinnis'' (William Orville Ayres, Ayres, 1861) (Shortfin corvina) * ''Cynoscion phoxocephalus'' (Jordan and Gilbert, 1882) (Cachema weakfish) * ''Cynoscion praedatorius'' (Jordan and Gilbert, 1889) (Boccone weakfish) * ''Cynoscion regalis'' (Marcus Elieser Bloch, Bloch and Johann Gottlob Theaenus Schneider, Schneider, 1801)(Squeteague) * ''Cynoscion reticulatus'' (Günther, 1864) * ''Cynoscion similis'' (John Ernest Randall, Randall and Fernando Cervigón, Cervigón, 1968) (Tonkin weakfish) * ''Cynoscion squamipinnis'' (Günther, 1867) (Scalyfin corvina) * ''Cynoscion steindachneri'' (Jordan, 1889) (Smalltooth weakfish) * ''Cynoscion stolzmanni'' (Franz Steindachner, Steindachner, 1879) (Yellowtail corvina) * ''Cynoscion striatus'' (Cuvier, 1829) (Striped weakfish) * ''Cynoscion virescens'' (Cuvier, 1830) (Green weakfish) * ''Cynoscion xanthulus'' Jordan & Gilbert, 1882 (Orangemouth weakfish) ''FishBase'' treats ''C. striatus'' as a valid species but the ''Catalog of Fishes'' states that this is a ''nomen oblitum'' and is in the Synonym (taxonomy), synonymy of ''C. guatucupa''.

Characteristics

''Cynoscion'' weakfishes have an elongate, torpedo-shaped body which is compressed to give it an oval cross-section. The head is low, with the crown being firm to the touch rather than spongy with moderately sized eyes and a large oblique mouth. There is a pair of large, pointed canine-like teeth in the front of the upper jaw. There are no Barbel (anatomy), barbels or pores on the chin. The preoperculum is smooth and not serrated and the top corner of gill slit is incised. The dorsal fin is long based and is deeply incised with between seven and nine thin spines and between 20 and 30 soft rays. The anal fin is supported by two small spines, less than half the length of the first anal fin ray, and 7 to 13 soft rays. They have large scales, ctenoid on the body and cycloid on the head. The lateral line reaches to the middle of the end of the caudal fin. The largest species in the genus are ''C. albus'' which has a maximum published total length of and ''C. xanthulus'' at while the smallest is ''C. nannus'' reaching .

Distribution

''Cynoscion'' weakfishes are found off the Americas in the eastern Pacific and western Atlantic Oceans being found in tropical and warm temperate waters.

References

{{Authority control Cynoscion, Taxa named by Theodore Gill