Aphredoderus sayanus (Gilliams, 1824)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The pirate perch (Aphredoderus sayanus) is a freshwater fish that commonly inhabits coastal waters along the east coast of the United States and the backwater areas of the Mississippi Valley. This species is often found towards the bottom of clear, warm water habitats with low currents. These fish are normally solitary, carnivorous, and nocturnal. The pirate perch is known to consume live mosquito larva, amphipods, glass shrimp, meal worms, small fish, dragonfly and stonefly larvae, and earthworms.
The pirate perch is related to the trout-perches in the family Percopsidae, but only loosely; as it is in the family Aphredoderidae. The genus name, Aphredoderus, literally translates to "excrement throat" in Greek, referencing the unusual location of its anus in the throat region. The specific name sayanus is a tribute to naturalist Thomas Say. Charles C. Abbott gave the fish its common name after observing it eating only other fishes.
Wikipedia contributors, Pirate perch; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T19:01:53.938901+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Aphredoderus sayanus (Gilliams, 1824)
- Name authority
- (Gilliams, 1824)
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Percopsiformes
- Family
- Aphredoderidae
- Genus
- Aphredoderus
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: no · Freshwater: yes · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderPercopsiformes
- familyAphredoderidae Bonaparte, 1845
- genusAphredoderus Lesueur, 1833
- speciesAphredoderus sayanus (Gilliams, 1824)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Aphredoderus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Aphredoderus mesotrema (Jordan, 1877) | AphredoderidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Aphredoderus sayanus sayanus (Gilliams, 1824) (Gilliams, 1824) | synonym |
| Sternotremia isolepis Nelson, 1876 Nelson, 1876 | synonym |
| Scolopsis sayanus Gilliams, 1824 Gilliams, 1824 | synonym |
| Aphrodedirus cookianus Jordan, 1877 Jordan, 1877 | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=1026973 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:FK24. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.