Centropomidae

Snooks
Common snook, Centropomus undecimalis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Actinopterygii Order: Perciformes Suborder: Percoidei Family: Centropomidae Genus: Centropomus
Species
Centropomus armatus Centropomus ensiferus Centropomus medius Centropomus mexicanus Centropomus nigrescens Centropomus parallelus Centropomus pectinatus Centropomus poeyi Centropomus robalito Centropomus undecimalis Centropomus unionensis Centropomus viridis

The Centropomidae are a single genus family of freshwater and marine fishes in Order Perciformes, including the common snook or róbalo, Centropomus undecimalis. Prior to 2004, three other genera were placed in Centropomidae in subfamily Latinae, which has since been raised to the family level and renamed Latidae because a cladistic analysis showed the old Centropomidae to be paraphyletic. Each of the four species (fat, swordspine, common, and tarpon) can be easily identified by their lateral black line. They are good tablefare, and are a sought after gamefish but tricky to catch.

Dating from the upper Cretaceous, the centropomids are of typical percoid shape, distinguished by having two-part dorsal fins, a lateral line that extends onto the tail, and, frequently, a concave shape to the head. They range from 35 centimetres (14 in) to 120 centimetres (47 in) in length and are found in tropical and subtropical waters.^[1]

References

• "Centropomidae". FishBase. Ed. Rainer Froese and Daniel Pauly. October 2004 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2004.
• Centropomidae (TSN 167642). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved on 20 December 2004.
• Otero, Olga (May 2004). "Anatomy, systematics and phylogeny of both Recent and fossil latid fishes (Teleostei, Perciformes, Latidae)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 141 (1). doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2004.00111.x;jsessionid=g9a7dxdGahP4. http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1096-3642.2004.00111.x;jsessionid=g9a7dxdGahP4?journalCode=zoj. Retrieved on 2006-08-15. 
• Snook or Robalo types as game fish