Centrarchidae, Bleeker, 1859

Freyhof, JÖrg, Yoğurtçuoğlu, Baran, Jouladeh-Roudbar, Arash & Kaya, Cüneyt, 2025, Handbook of Freshwater Fishes of West Asia, De Gruyter : 826

Family Centrarchidae

Sunfishes

A small family comprising approximately 50 species in eight genera native to North America, extending from Alaska to southern Mexico. In West Asia, they are distinguished from Cichlidae by the presence of a single continuous lateral line (vs. lateral line interrupted, with the anterior part of the line situated at a higher level on the body than the posterior part) and the absence of pharyngeal tooth plates (vs. presence). They are distinguished from Percidae by having 2–6 anal spines (vs. 1–2), and from Dicentrarchus ( Moronidae ) by the absence of auxiliary rows of lateral-line scales on the caudal (vs. presence), and from both by having only a single dorsal (vs. 2). Two species of Centrarchidae have established in West Asia. Lepomis gibbosus is the most widespread, while Micropterus nigricans has only been introduced to Cyprus. Additional species may be introduced in the future, and it is anticipated that Micropterus will be stocked illegally elsewhere. Further reading. Page & Burr 1991 (identification); Jenkins & Burkhead 1993 (identification); Kim et al. 2022 ( Micropterus diversity).