Centropomidae - Definition and Overview

The Centropomidae are a family of freshwater and marine fishes in order Perciformes. The species in the family are primarily found in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans.. The family includes three genera and some 23 species, including the Nile perch (Lates niloticus), the barramundi (Lates calcarifer), and the common snook or róbalo (Centropomus undecimalis).

Dating from the upper Cretaceous, the centropomids are of typical percoid shape, distinguished by having two-part dorsal fins and, frequently, a concave shape to the head.

Many species in this family are important food fishes and some have been introduced outside their native ranges to provide fishing stocks. The freshwater Nile perch, a fierce predator, has become infamous, as its introduction into Lake Victoria in the 1960s has wrought devastation on the native fishes of the lake, causing the extinction of many.

Otero has recently (2004) argued that the family Centropomidae is paraphyletic, and has proposed, on the basis of cladistic analysis, promoting the subfamily Latinae to a monophyletic family Latidae.

Genera

• Subfamily Centropominae:
  • Centropomus
• Subfamily Latinae:
  • Hypopterus
  • Lates
  • Psammoperca

References

• "Centropomidae" (http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/FamilySummary.cfm?Family=Centropomidae). FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. October 2004 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2004.
• "Centropomidae" (TSN 167642) (http://www.itis.usda.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=167642). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. N.p.: Integrated Taxonomic Information System, 2004. Accessed on 20 December 2004.
• Otero, Olga. "Anatomy, Systematics and Phylogeny of Both Recent and Fossil Latid Fishes (Teleostei, Perciformes, Latidae)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 141 (2004): 81–133.