Sparidae

Thesaurus

Noun

Sparidae - porgies; scups family Sparidaefish family - any of various families of fishorder Perciformes, order Percomorphi, Perciformes, Percomorphi - one of the largest natural groups of fishes of both marine and fresh water: true perches; basses; tunasparid, sparid fish - spiny-finned food fishes of warm waters having well-developed teethgenus Pagrus, Pagrus - a genus of Sparidaegenus Pagellus, Pagellus - sea breamsArchosargus, genus Archosargus - a genus of Sparidaegenus Lagodon, Lagodon - a genus of Sparidaegenus Calamus, Calamus - a genus of SparidaeChrysophrys, genus Chrysophrys - Australian snappergenus Stenotomus, Stenotomus - scups

Sparidae

[′spar·ə‚dē] (vertebrate zoology) A family of perciform fishes in the suborder Percoidei, including the porgies.

Sparidae

(porgies), a family of fishes of the order Perciformes. The tall, laterally compressed body is rounded or elongate; it ranges in length from 10 cm to 1.5 m. The back is arched. The coloration is bright and varied. The mouth is in the form of a straight slit; the teeth are numerous and of various shapes, depending on the mode of feeding (predacious, planktivorous, herbivorous). There is a single dorsal fin; its anterior rays are powerful spines that are retractible into a groove on the back.

There are more than 30 genera of porgies, distributed in the temperate and tropical waters of the world ocean. The fishes live close to shore in shallow bays and inlets; they sometimes enter the mouth of rivers. Porgies are only rarely encountered far offshore. Nine species, from eight genera, are found in the waters of the USSR (Black Sea, Sea of Azov, Sea of Japan). The species include representatives of the genera Dentex, Pagrus, and Diplodus. All porgies are hermaphroditic. Most species are commercially valuable.

REFERENCES

Svetovidov, A. N. Ryby Chernogo moria. Moscow-Leningrad, 1964.
Nikol’skii, G. V. Chastnaia ikhtiologiia, 3rd ed. Moscow, 1971.

Sparidae

Related to Sparidae: family Sparidae, Chaetodontidae

noun

Synonyms for Sparidae

noun porgies

Synonyms

family Sparidae

Related Words

fish family
order Perciformes
order Percomorphi
Perciformes
Percomorphi
sparid
sparid fish
genus Pagrus
Pagrus
genus Pagellus
Pagellus
Archosargus
genus Archosargus
genus Lagodon
Lagodon
genus Calamus
Calamus
Chrysophrys
genus Chrysophrys
genus Stenotomus
Stenotomus