The Moronidae is a family of percomorph fishes, commonly called the temperate basses, in the order Moroniformes. These fishes are found in the freshwaters of North America and the coastal waters of the North Atlantic.
Taxonomy
Moronidae was first proposed as a family in 1896 by the American ichthyologists David Starr Jordan and Barton Warren Evermann. Other authorities place the Ephippidae and Drepaneidae in the order Ephippiformes with the Moronidae classified as incertae sedis in the series Eupercaria. Other authorities classify all three families in the Moroniformes sensu Fishes of the World in the Acanthuriformes.
Description
Moronidae basses have oblong bodies which are slightly compressed. They have large mouths with the upper jaw being broad to the rear, leading to most of the jaw being exposed when the mouth is closed. The jaws have bands of small, conical teeth with no canine-like teeth. There are also bands of simple teeth on the sides and front of the roof of the mouth. There are also 2 parallel bands of simple teeth on the base of the tongue. The operculum has 3 flat spines while the preoperculum is finely toothed. The first dorsal fin has between 8 and 10 spines and the second has a single spine and between 10 and 13 soft rays. The anal fin has 3 spines and between 9 and 12 soft rays,
{| class="wikitable"
|+Extant species
!Genus
!Species
!Common name
!Image
|-
| rowspan="2" |Dicentrarchus
|D. labrax
|European seabass
|frameless|200x200px
|-
|D. punctatus
|spotted seabass
|frameless|200x200px
|-
| rowspan="4" |Morone
|M. americana
|white perch
|frameless|200x200px
|-
|M. chrysops
|white bass
|frameless|200x200px
|-
|M. mississippiensis
|yellow bass
|frameless|200x200px
|-
|M. saxatilis
|striped bass
|frameless|200x200px
|}
Fossil species
- Beaumontoperca <small>Gaudant, 2000</small> (Oligocene; Europe)
- B. beaumonti <small>(Agassiz, 1836)</small> (Chattian; France)
- Cockerellites (Eocene; North America)
- †C. liops (Ypresian; United States)
- †Eomorone <small>Gaudant, 2005</small> (Miocene; Europe)
- †E. kokayi (Middle Miocene; Hungary)
- †Paramorone <small>David, 1946</small> (Eocene; North America)
- †P. eocenica <small>David, 1946</small> (Priabonian; United States)
- †Priscacara (Eocene; North America)
- †P. aquilonia (Ypresian; Canada)
- †P. campi (Eocene; United States)
- †P. serrata (Ypresian; United States)
The genus Lateolabrax had formerly been classified in the Moronidae but is now placed in either Polyprionidae
Utilisation
Moronidae basses are important target fishes for recreational sea angling, and some species support significant commercial fisheries and are used in aquaculture.