Mojarra
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Mojarra (disambiguation).
| Chicawa | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Gerres equulus | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Perciformes |
| Family: | Gerreidae Bleeker, 1859 |
| Genera | |
|
See text. | |
The mojarras are a family, Gerreidae, of fishes in the order Perciformes.
Mojarras are a common prey and bait fish in many parts of the Caribbean, including the South American coast and Caribbean islands. These species tend to be difficult to identify in the field and often require microscopic examination. Most species exhibit a schooling behavior and tend to exploit the shallow water refugia associated with coastal areas presumably to avoid large-bodied predators, such as the lemon shark. [1]
Mojarra is also commonly used in Latin American countries as a name for various species of the cichlid family, including tilapia.
Genera
The seven genera currently assigned to this family are:[2]
- Diapterus
- Eucinostomus
- Eugerres
- Gerres
- Parequula
- Pentaprion
- Ulaema
Timeline
See also
References
- Sepkoski, Jack (2002). "A compendium of fossil marine animal genera". Bulletins of American Paleontology 364: p.560. Retrieved 2011-05-19.
- ↑ Bright, Michael (2000). The private life of sharks : the truth behind the myth. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books. ISBN 0-8117-2875-7.
- ↑ Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2013). "Gerreidae" in FishBase. April 2013 version.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.