Serranidae is a large family of fishes, belonging to the order Perciformes. The family contains about 450 species of serranids in 64 genera, including the sea basses and the groupers (subfamily Epinephelinae). They range in size from the belted sandfish (Serranus subligarius), which grows to 110 mm (4.33 in), up to the itajara (Epinephelus itajara), which grows to 2.4 m (94.5 in) and weighs up to 300 kg (660 lb).

Characteristics

Many serranid species are brightly colored, and many are caught commercially for food. They are usually found over reefs, in tropical to sub-tropical waters along the coasts. Serranids are generally robust in form, with large mouths and small spines on the gill coverings. They typically have several rows of sharp teeth, usually with a pair of particularly large, canine-like teeth projecting from the lower jaw.^[1]

All serranids are carnivorous. Although some species only feed on zooplankton, the majority feed on fish and crustaceans. They are typically ambush predators, hiding in cover on the reef and darting out to grab passing prey. Their bright colours are most likely a form of disruptive camouflage, similar to the stripes of a tiger.^[1]

Many species are protogynous hermaphrodites, meaning that they start out as females and change sex to male later in life.^[1] They produce large quantities of eggs and their larvae are planktonic, generally at the mercy of ocean currents until they are ready to settle into adult populations.

Classification

Timeline of genera

Images of serranids

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  Sea goldie, Pseudanthias squamipinnis

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  Blue-spotted grouper, Cephalopholis argus

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  Epinephelus sp., probably E. marginatus the dusky grouper

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  Giant grouper, Epinephelus lanceolatus

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  Humpback grouper, Cromileptes altivelis (with a porcupinefish at top and Picasso triggerfish on the right

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  Bank sea bass pick through the rubble near temperate reefs.. Centropristis sp.

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  Palaeoperca proxima fossil, Eocene, Germany

References

• Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2006). "Serranidae" in FishBase. January 2006 version.
• Sepkoski, Jack (2002). "A compendium of fossil marine animal genera". Bulletins of American Paleontology 364: p.560. http://strata.ummp.lsa.umich.edu/jack/showgenera.php?taxon=611&rank=class. Retrieved 2011-05-19.