Sander marinus
{{Short description|Species of fish}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Sander marinus.jpg
| image_caption =
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| taxon = Sander marinus
| authority = (Cuvier, 1828)
| synonyms = *Lucioperca marina Cuvier, 1828
- Stizostedion marinum (Cuvier, 1828)
| synonyms_ref= {{Cof genus|genus=Sander|access-date=22 April 2025}}
}}
Sander marinus, the estuarine perch, sea pikeperch or sea zander, is a species of brackish water ray-finned fish belonging to the family Percidae which includes the perches, ruffes and darters. It is found in eastern Europe in the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea.
Taxonomy
Sander marinus was first formally described as Lucioperca marina in 1828 by the French zoologist Georges Cuvier with its type locality given as the Black Sea and Caspian Sea. The estuarine perch is now classified in the genus Sander within the subfamily Luciopercinae, this subfamily also including the genera Zingel and Romanichthys'', of the family Percidae.{{Cof family|family=Luciopercinae|access-date=22 April 2025}}
Etymology
SAnder marinus is classified within the genus Sander, this name is a latinisation of Cuvier's les Sandres which he derived from zander, the German vernacular name for the zander (Sander lucioperca). The specific name, marinus, means "of the sea", and refers to this species being found in the brackish waters of the CAspian and Black Seas in comparison to the freshwater S. lucioperca.{{cite web |url=https://etyfish.org/leuciscinae/ |title=Order PERCIFORMES (part 6): Suborder PERCOIDEI: Families NIPHONIDAE, PERCIDAE and TRACHINIDAE|author=Christopher Scharpf |date=1 November 2024 |access-date=22 April 2025 |work=The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database |publisher=Christopher Scharpf}}
Description
Sander marinus is told apart from the other European members of its genus by the counts of branched fin rays in the second dorsal fin, the width of its forehead and the number of scales in its lateral line. This species has between 12 and 14 branched rays in the second dorsal fin and between 79 and 85 scales along its lateral line,{{cite journal |author1=Roman, Anatolii |author2=Afanasyev, Sergey |author3=Tkachenko, P. |name-list-style=& |year=2018 |title=New Finding of Sea Zander Sander marinus (Pisces, Percidae) in the Dnieper-Bug Liman and Brief Notes on Morphology of Sympatric Species of the Genus |journal=Hydrobiological Journal |volume=54 |pages=40-48 |doi=10.1615/HydrobJ.v54.i1.40}}
Distribution and habitat
Biology
Sander marinus is a predator of invertebrates and smaller fishes. These fishes attain sexual maturity at 3 or 4 years old, the spawning season is in April and May and the spawn is laid on hard substrates. After spawning is complete, these fishes begin to feed intensively before the water temperature declines in the coastal waters and with the onset of winter they retreat to deeper waters.