Gerreidae

noun

Distribution: most tropical seas. Chiefly marine. In brackish water occasionally; rare in freshwater. Very protractile mouth. Head scaly but with smooth upper surface. Dorsal and anal fins with a sheath of scales along base. Gill membranes not united to isthmus. Deeply forked tail; 24 vertebrae. Maximum length 35 cm, attained in Gerres filamentosus. Small silvery fishes with highly protrusible mouth. They feed by sorting benthic invertebrates from sand. Foodfishes. Assumed to be nonguarders (RF).

The family Gerreidae belongs to the Class Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) and the Order Perciformes. It contains 8 genera and 40 species. It may be found in Marine, Brackish, and Freshwater environments and is primarily Marine. Members of this family are not used in the aquarium trade. Reproductively, most members of this family are nonguarders. The main mode of swimming of adult fish in this family is carangiform. Compared with other fish, the activity level of this family tends to be active. Etymology of this family name: Gerreidae: From Plinius, Latin, gerres, -es = a kind of anchovies