Plagioscion
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Plagioscion | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Plagioscion auratus (above), Plagioscion squamosissimus (below) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Acanthuriformes |
| Family: | Sciaenidae |
| Genus: | Plagioscion T. N. Gill, 1861 |
| Type species | |
| Sciaena squamosissima Heckel, 1840 | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
| |
Plagioscion is a genus of freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Sciaenidae, the drums and croakers. They are found in tropical and subtropical South America where they inhabit fresh and brackish waters.[2][3] Some species (notably P. squamosissimus and P. surinamensis) are important food fish and support major fisheries.[4]
Depending on the exact species, they reach up to about 30–80 cm (1.0–2.6 ft) in length.[2] In general, the various species are similar and are not easily separated by meristics or colour.[3]
Plagioscion sometimes occur in schools.[4] They are predators and the adults are essentially piscivorous.[2][4] The largest in the genus, P. squamosissimus, mainly feeds on fish smaller than 15 cm (6 in), but may take ones up to about 60% of the length of the Plagioscion itself.[4]
Although the family Sciaenidae primarily is marine, there are four genera with freshwater species in South America. In addition to Plagioscion, this is Pachypops, Pachyurus and Petilipinnis.[3][4]
Plagoscion was first proposed as a genus in 1861 by the American biologist Theodore Gill without including any species. The type species was later designated as Sciaena squamosissima by Jordan and Eigenmann,[1] this species had been described in 1840 by Johann Jakob Heckel with its type locality given as Suriname.[5] This genus has been placed in the subfamily Cynoscioninae by some workers,[6] but the 5th edition of Fishes of the World does not recognise subfamilies within the Sciaenidae which it places in the order Acanthuriformes.[7]
