There are currently FIFTY-EIGHT members of the Croaker or Sciaenidae Family, seventeen from the Atlantic Ocean and forty-one from the Pacific Ocean, are presented in this website:

FROM THE ATLANTIC (17):

FROM THE PACIFIC (41):

The Croaker or Sciaenidae Family has two hundred eighty-four global members that have been placed in seventy genera of which eighty-three species reside in North American waters of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans including thirty being found in the Sea of Cortez. The family includes Corvinas, Croakers, Drums, High-Hats, and Weakfish. They are found in tropical and coastal waters and are also abundant in the Gulf of Mexico. They are known in Mexico’s fishing areas as berrugatas and corvinas.

The Croakers have moderately elongated and compressed bodies that range in length from 20 cm (8 inches) to 2 meters (3 feet 3 inches). They are caught out of the surf and are named after the repetitive throbbing or drumming sounds they make with their resonating swim bladders amplifying the sound.  They are highly variable in color from silvery to dark brown or black. They are either a uniform coloration or have spots and dark bands. Their heads generally have blunt snouts with conspicuous sensory pores on the snout tip; some also have barbels on their chins. They have a low-set mouth that opens very low on the face. Their anal fins have two spines and their long dorsal fins are separated and extend to the tail. They have a prominent lateral line that extends into the posterior edge of their variably-shaped but never forked caudal fin; in most fish the lateral line ends at the base of the caudal fin. Their heads and bodies are completely scaled.

The Croakers are tropical demersal fish found globally in both fresh and salt water; they inhabit sandy shores and estuaries generally at depths of less than 46 m (150 feet). They are benthic carnivores feeding on invertebrates and small fish. The croakers, in general, are poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction.

The Croakers are an excellent food and sports fish and commonly caught by surf and pier fishermen. Some Croakers are important commercial species and sold for human consumption. For example, the Small Yellow Croaker, Larimichthys polyactis, caught in the Western Indian Ocean primarily by trawlers and gill net fishermen, is sold at the level of 500,000 tons per year making it the 25^th most important global fish species. The various species of Corvina are also important food fish in Mexico and Central America.