The Digital Fish Library

Distribution:
Eastern North America, Europe and Northern Africa.

Habitat:
Brackish and freshwater and marine coastal areas.

Remarks:
Temperate basses have two dorsal fins, the first with 8-10 spines, the second with one spine and 10-13 soft rays. The opercle has two spines. The lateral line extends the length of the fish to the posterior margin of the caudal fin, and there is an extra row of lateral line scales on the caudal fin both above and below the main row.

Many acclimation (to varying temperatures, salinities) studies have been conducted on the species in this family, most of which can tolerate a wide range of salinities. These fishes display marked physiological and morphological differences depending on the environment in which they are reared.

This family comprises 3 genera and 8 species. The North American genus Morone is a freshwater fish, whereas the European / North African Dicentrarchus is found in Mediterranean and Black seas as well as in coastal rivers. The third genus, the Asian Lateolabrax, is recognized provisionally as a member of the family Moronidae, but until recently has been placed in its own family, Lateolabracidae.

References:
Corti et al. 1996; Egington and Sidell 1989; Helfman et al. 1997; Jones and Sidell 1982; Nelson 2006