Family ATHERINIDAE


Common name: Hardyheads, silversides

Silhouette

Summary:
Small, slender schooling fishes found worldwide in tropical and temperate waters. Hardyheads live in freshwater, estuarine and marine environments and feed mostly on zooplankton. They have two widely separated dorsal fins, pectoral fins high on the body, a forked tail, cycloid scales and a broad silvery stripe along the side.

Cite this page as:
Bray, D.J. 2017, Hardyheads, ATHERINIDAE in Fishes of Australia, accessed 09 Dec 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/Home/family/281

More Info


Family Taxonomy

Nine genera and 36 described species are known from Australian waters. More than half the Australian species live in freshwater.

Family Distribution

Primarily marine pelagic fishes found in tropical and temperate coastal waters and estuaries. Freshwater species are known from Australia, Papua New Guinea and Irian Jaya, and particularly South America, where an extensive radiation has taken place.

Family Description

Hardyheads are mostly small, elongate silvery fishes with small, usually cycloid scales, no lateral line, and usually a small mouth. The two dorsal fins are widely separated.

Family Size

To 60 cm, although most are less than 20 cm.

Family Colour

Hardyheads are counter-shaded, and are usually a darker bluish or greenish above and whitish below, with a silvery midlateral stripe.

Family Feeding

Feed mostly on planktonic invertebrates.

Family Reproduction

The sexes are separate and fertilisation is external.

Family Commercial

Some species are of minor commercial importance in other parts of the world. Atherinids are also used as bait by recreational fishers.

Family Remarks

Fossil atherinids are known from the beginning of the Eocene Epoch - 56 million years ago.

Author

Bray, D.J. 2017

References


Allen, G.R. 1997. The marine fishes of tropical Australia and south-east Asia. Western Australian Museum, Perth, Western Australia. 292 p.

Allen, G.R. & R.C. Steene. 1988. Fishes of Christmas Island Indian Ocean. Christmas Island Natural History Association, Christmas Island, Indian Ocean, 6798, Australia. 197 p.

Allen, G.R., S.H. Midgley & M. Allen. 2002. Field guide to the freshwater fishes of Australia. Western Australian Museum, Perth, Western Australia. 394 p.

Crowley, L.E.L.M. 1990. Biogeography of the endemic freshwater fish Craterocephalus (Family Atherinidae). Mem. Qld Mus. 28(1): 89–98.

Crowley, L.E.L.M. & W. Ivantsoff. 1988. A new species of Australian Craterocephalus (Pisces: Atherinidae) and redescription of four other species. Records of the Western Australian Museum 14(2): 151-169.

Crowley, L.E.L.M. & W. Ivantsoff. 1992. Redefinition of the freshwater fish genus Craterocephalus (Teleostei: Atherinidae) of Australia and New Guinea with an analysis of three species. Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwat. 3(3): 273-287.

Dyer, B.S. & Chernoff, B. 1996. Phylogenetic relationships among atheriniform fishes (Teleostei: Atherinomorpha). Zool. J. Linn. Soc. London 177: 1–69.

Francis, M.P., 1993 Checklist of the coastal fishes of Lord Howe, Norfolk, and Kermadec Islands, Southwest Pacific Ocean. Pac. Sci. 47(2): 136-170.

Hammer, M.P. & K.F. Walker. 2004. A catalogue of South Australian freshwater fishes, including new records, range extensions and translocations. Transactions Royal Society of South Australia 128(2): 85-97.

Ivantsoff, W. 1978. Taxonomic and systematic review of the Australian fish species of the family Atherinidae with references to related species of the Old World. Unpubl. Ph.D. Thesis Sydney : Macquarie Univ. 701 pp. 118 figs.

Ivantsoff, W. & G.R. Allen. 2011. A new species and genus of a large unusual freshwater hornyhead, Sashatherina giganteus (Pisces: Atherinidae) from West Papua, Indonesia and a comparison with its closest relatives of the genus Craterocephalus. Aqua, International Journal of Ichthyology 17(1): 43-57.

Ivantsoff, W. & L.E.L.M. Crowley. 1991. Review of the Australian silverside fishes of the genus Atherinomorus (Atherinidae). Aust. J. Mar. Freshwat. Res. 42(5): 479-505.

Ivantsoff, W. & L.E.L.M. Crowley. 1996. Atherinidae. In McDowall, R.M. (Ed.) Freshwater fishes of south-eastern Australia. 247 p.

Ivantsoff, W. & Crowley, L.E.L.M. 1999. Atherinidae. pp. 2113–2139 in Carpenter, K.E. & Niem, V.H. (eds) The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. Rome : FAO Vol. 4 pp. 2069–2790.

Ivantsoff, W., L.E.L.M. Crowley & G.R. Allen. 1987. Descriptions of three new species and one subspecies of freshwater hardyhead (Pisces: Atherinidae: Craterocephalus) from Australia. Records of the Western Australian Mu­­­seum 13(2): 171-188.

Ivantsoff, W. & M. Kottelat. 1988. Redescription of Hypoatherina valenciennei and its relationships to other species of Atherinidae in the Pacific and Indian oceans. Jap. J. Ichthyol. 35(2): 142-149.

Jordan, D.S. & Hubbs, C.L. (1919). A monographic review of the family Atherinidae or silversides. Stanford Univ. Publ. Univ. Ser. 40: 1–87 pls 1–12.

Kimura, S., Y. Iwatsuki & T. Yoshino. 2001. Redescriptions of the Indo-West Pacific atherinid fishes, Atherinomorus endrachtensis (Quoy and Gaimard, 1825) and A. duodecimalis (Valenciennes in Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1835). Ichthyological Research 48(2): 167-177.

Kimura, S., Y. Iwatsuki and T. Yoshino. 2001. Validity of the atherinid fish, Atherinomorus vaigiensis (Quoy and Gaimard, 1825), with comments on its synonymy. Ichthyol. Res. 48(4): 379-384.

Kuiter, R.H. 1993. Coastal fishes of south-eastern Australia. University of Hawaii Press. Honolulu, Hawaii. 437 p.

Kuiter, R.H. 1997. Guide to sea fishes of Australia. A comprehensive reference for divers and fishermen. New Holland Publishers, Frenchs Forest, NSW, Australia: 1-434.

Larson, H.K. & K.C. Martin. 1990. The freshwater fishes of the Northern Territory. Northern Territory Museum Arts. Sci. (Handbook Series) No. 1: 1-102.

Leis, J.M. & Carson-Ewart, B.M. (Eds.) 2000. The larvae of the Indo-Pacific coastal fishes. An identification guide to marine fish larvae. 1st Ed. Brill, Leiden. 850pp.

Llewellyn, L.C. 1979. Some Observations on the spawning and development of the Mitchellian Freshwater Hardyhead Craterocephalus fluviatilis McCulloch from inland waters in New South Wales. Australian Zoologist 20(2): 269-288.

Merrick, J.R. & G.E. Schmida. 1984. Australian freshwater fishes: biology and management. Griffin Press Ltd., South Australia. 409 p.

Morgan, D.L., M.G. Allen, P. Bedford & M. Horstman. 2004. Fish fauna of the Fritzoy river in the Kimberley region of Western Australia - including the Bunuba, Gooniyandi, Ngarinyin, Nyikina and Walmajarri Aboriginal names. Records of the Western Australian Museum 22: 147-161.

Okiyama, M. (Ed.) 1988. An Atlas of the Early Stage Fishes in Japan. Tokai University Press, Tokyo. 1154 pages. [In Japanese]

Parenti, L.R. 1993. Relationships of atherinomorph fishes (Teleostei). Bull. Mar. Sci. 52(1): 170–196.

Pavlov, A.W. Ivantsoff, P.R. Last & L.E.L.M. Crowley. 1988. Kestratherina brevirostris, a new genus and species of silverside, (Pisces: Atherinidae) with a review of atherinid marine and estuarine genera of southern Australia. Aust. J. Mar. Freshwat. Res. 39(4): 385-397.

Paxton, J.R., J.E. Gates, D.J. Bray & D.F. Hoese. 2006 Atherinidae. Pp. 700-713. In Beesley, P.L. & A. Wells (eds.) Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Volume 35. ABRS & CSIRO Publishing: Australia Part 2.

Prince, J.D. & I.C. Potter. 1983. Life-cycle duration, growth and spawning times of five species of Atherinidae (Teleostei) found in a western Australian estuary. Aust. J. Mar. Freshwat. Res. 34: 287-301.

Pusey, B.J., Kennard, M.J. & Arthington, A.H. 2004. Freshwater Fishes of North-Eastern Australia. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood. 684pp.

Pusey, B.J., M.G. Read & A.H. Arthington. 1995. The feeding ecology of freshwater fishes in two rivers of the Australian wet tropics. Env. Biol. Fish. 43(1): 85-103.

Raadik, T.A. 2008. Family Atherinidae. In Gomon, M.F., D.J. Bray & R.H. Kuiter. Fishes of Australia’s Southern Coast. Reed New Holland and Museum Victoria.

Randall, J.E., G.R. Allen & R.C. Steene. 1990. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, Hawaii. 506 p.

Schultz, L.P. 1948. A revision of subfamilies of atherine fishes, with descriptions of new genera and species. Proc. U.S. Natl. Mus. 98(3220): 1–48 figs 1–9 pls 1–2.

Semple, G.P. 1986. Reproductive behaviour and early development of the Drysdale hardyhead, Craterocephalus sp.nov. (Pisces; Atherinidae), from the Alligator rivers system, Northern Territory, Australia. Journal of Fish Biology 29: 499-506.

Tsukamoto, Y. & Kimura, S. 1993. Development of laboratory reared eggs, larvae and juveniles of the Atherinid fish, Hypoatherina tsurugae, and comparison with related species. Japanese Journal of Ichthyology 40(2): 261-267.

Unmack, P.J. 2001. Biogeography of Australian freshwater fishes. Journal of Biogeography 28: 1053-1089.

White, B.N., R.J. Lavenberg & G.E. McGowen. 1984. Atheriniformes: development and relationships. p. 355-362. In Ontogeny and systematics of fishes. American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 1. 760 p.

Woodland, D.J. 1961. Description of a new species of Pranesus (Atherinidae: Pisces) from the Capricorn Group, Great Barrier Reef. Pac. Sci. 15(4): 540-541.