Mojarra
| 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 as well as the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic coast of North America.[1] 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.[2]
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:[3][4]
- Deckertichthys[4]
- 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.
- ↑ Northeast Gulf Science Vol. 5 No. 1 1981
- ↑ 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. (2014). "Gerreidae" in FishBase. February 2014 version.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Vergara-Solana, F.J., García-Rodriguez, F.J., Tavera, J.J., De Luna, E. & De La Cruz-Agüero, J. (2014): Molecular and morphometric systematics of Diapterus (Perciformes, Gerreidae). Zoologica Scripta, 43 (4): 338–350.