Mojarra

Mojarras
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Perciformes
Family:	Gerreidae
Genera
7, See text.

For other uses, see Mojarra (disambiguation).

The mojarras are a family, Gerreidae, of fishes in the order Perciformes. It has seven genera.

Mojarras are a common prey and bait fish in many parts of the Caribbean including the South American Coast and Caribbean islands. 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.

Mojarra is also commonly used in Latin American countries as a name for various species of the Cichlid family including tilapia.

Genera

• Diapterus Ranzani, 1842 (4 species)
• Eucinostomus Baird and Girard in Baird, 1855 (11 species)
• Eugerres Jordan and Evermann, 1927 (7 species)
• Gerres Quoy and Gaimard, 1824 (26 species)
• Parequula Steindachner, 1879 (monotypic)
• Pentaprion Bleeker, 1850 (monotypic)
• Ulaema Jordan and Evermann in Jordan, 1895

Timeline

See also

• Silver biddy

References

• Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2006). "Gerreidae" in FishBase. March 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.