Phylogeny, Evolution and Taxonomy of sparids with some notes on their Ecology and Biology

The Sparidae is a moderately sized but morphologically and ecologically highly diverse family of percoid fishes. Monophyly of seabreams and porgies is shown to be supported only after inclusion of the picarels (Centracanthidae), a species-poor family of planktivorous fishes basically confined to the eastern Atlantic Ocean and the South African Cape region. Recent phylogenetic analyses clearly indicate that the current sparid taxonomy, largely based on tropho-morphological characters, does not reflect the evolutionary history of the group. Nevertheless, despite convincing evidence for the non-monophyly of the presently described sub-familiar and generic classification, a major revision including a reexamination of morphological characters is still lacking. A compilation of the available knowledge on the biology and ecology of porgies and seabreams reveals major gaps for the majority of the species, which regarding the ecological importance of the group is not only a scientific challenge.