{{Short description|Genus of fishes}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = | image_caption = | taxon = Bahaba | authority = Herre, 1935 | type_species = ''Otolithes (Bahaba) lini'' | type_species_authority = Herre, 1935<ref name = CofF>{{Cof family | family = Sciaenidae | access-date = 22 April 2023}}</ref> }}
'''''Bahaba''''' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Sciaenidae, the drums and croakers. These fishes are found in the Indo-West Pacific region.
==Taxonomy== ''Bahaba'' was first proposed as a monotypic subgenus of the genus ''Otolithes'' in 1935 by the American ichthyologist Albert William Herre with its type species being ''Otolithes (Bahaba) lini''. In 1977 Ethelwynn Trewavas treated it as a valid genus in her paper called ''The sciaenid fishes (croakers or drums) of the Indo-West-Pacific'' published in the ''Transactions of the Zoological Society of London'' and most authorities now treat the genus as valid.<ref name = CofF/> Trewavas also stated that Herre's ''Otolithes lini'' was a junior synonym of ''Nibea taipingensis'', which Herre had described in 1932.<ref name = CofF2>{{Cof genus|genus=Bahaba|access-date=24 April 2023}}</ref> ''Bahaba'' belongs to the family Sciaenidae in the order Acanthuriformes.<ref name = Nelson5>{{cite book |title=Fishes of the World |edition=5th |author1=J. S. Nelson |author2=T. C. Grande |author3=M. V. H. Wilson |year=2016 |pages=497–502 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-1-118-34233-6 |url=https://sites.google.com/site/fotw5th/ |access-date=2023-04-24 |archive-date=2019-04-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190408194051/https://sites.google.com/site/fotw5th/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Some authorities place ''Bahaba'' in the subfamily Pseudosciaeninae<ref name = Wei>{{cite journal | author1 = Wei He | author2 = Wei-Hua Lu | author3 = Xi-Guo Li | author4 = Ning-Ning Lu | author5 = Dong-Fang Sun | author6 = Yong-Zheng Li | display-authors = 3 | year = 2012 | title = Taxonomic status of Chinese bahaba (''Bahaba taipingensis'') and its phylogenetic relationship with other species in the family Sciaenidae | journal = Mitochondrial DNA | volume = 23 | issue =2 | pages = 53–61 | doi = 10.3109/19401736.2011.653797| pmid = 22397374 }}</ref> but subfamilies are not recognised within Sciaenidae by ''Fishes of the World''.<ref name = Nelson5/>
==Etymology== ''Bahaba'' is the word used in the Samal language of the Sulu region of Mindanao in the Philippines for drums and croakers.<ref name = ETYFish>{{cite web | url = https://etyfish.org/eupercaria/ | title = Series Eupercaria (Incertae sedis): Families Callanthidae, Centrogenyidae, Dinopercidae, Emmelichthyidae, Malacanthidae, Monodactylidae, Moronidae, Parascorpididae, Sciaenidae and Sillagidae | work = The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database | editor1 = Christopher Scharpf | editor2 = Kenneth J. Lazara | name-list-style = amp | date = 9 March 2023 | access-date = 24 April 2023 | publisher = Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara | archive-date = 17 February 2022 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220217162719/https://etyfish.org/eupercaria/ | url-status = dead }}</ref>
==Species== The currently recognized species in this genus are:<ref name = Fishbase>{{FishBase genus | genus = Bahaba | month = February| year = 2023}}</ref> * ''Bahaba chaptis'' <small>F. Hamilton, 1822</small> (Chaptis bahaba) * ''Bahaba polykladiskos'' <small>Bleeker, 1897</small> (spine bahaba) * ''Bahaba taipingensis'' <small>Herre, 1932</small> (Chinese bahaba)
==Characteristics== ''Bahaba'' is distinguished from other sciaenids by the form of their swim bladder which has unbranched horn-like or tube-like appendages which start at the anterior end of the swim bladder and are directed to the rear.<ref name = FAO>{{cite book | editor1 = Carpenter, K.E. | editor-first2 = Volker H. | editor-last2 = Neim | name-list-style = amp | year = 2001 | title = The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific Volume 5: Bony fishes part 3 (Menidae to Pomacentridae) | series = FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes | publisher = FAO Rome | author = K. Sasaki | chapter = Sciaenidae | page = 3117 | url = https://www.fao.org/3/y0770e/y0770e34.pdf}}</ref> The Chinese bahaba is the largest species, having a maximum published total length of {{cvt|200|cm}} while that of the chaptis bahaba is {{cvt|50|cm}} and the spine bahaba is {{cvt|40|cm}}.<ref name = Fishbase/>
==Distribution and habitat== ''Bahaba'' is found in the Indo-West Pacific with one species in the coastal Bay of Bengal,<ref name = Fishbase2>{{Fishbase|Bahaba|chaptis|month=February|year=2023}}</ref> one endemic to the coastal waters of southern China<ref name = Fishbase3>{{Fishbase|Bahaba|taipingensis|month=February|year=2023}}</ref> and the third in Southeast Asia.<ref name = Fishbase4>{{Fishbase|Bahaba|polykladiskos|month=February|year=2023}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
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Category:Bahaba Category:Sciaenidae Category:Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Category:Taxa named by Albert William Herre