{{Short description|Family of ray-finned fishes}} {{Automatic taxobox | fossil_range = {{fossil range|Late Miocene|present}} | image = Embiotoca lateralis.jpg | image_caption = Striped surfperch (''Embiotoca lateralis'') | taxon = Embiotocidae | authority = Agassiz, 1853 | subdivision_ranks = Genera | subdivision_ref = <ref>{{FishBase family | family = Embiotocidae| month = April | year = 2013}}</ref> | subdivision = * ''Amphistichus'' * ''Brachyistius'' * ''Cymatogaster'' * ''Ditrema'' * ''Embiotoca'' * ''Hyperprosopon'' * ''Hypocritichthys'' * ''Hypsurus'' * ''Hysterocarpus'' * ''Micrometrus'' * ''Neoditrema'' * ''Phanerodon'' * ''Rhacochilus'' * ''Zalembius'' * {{extinct}}''Eriquius'' }} The '''surfperches''' are a family of viviparous ray-finned fishes, the '''Embiotocidae'''. Most species are marine, inhabiting coastal waters from Baja California to Alaska, with a few found in Asian Pacific coasts. The only freshwater species, the tule perch (''Hysterocarpus traski''), is endemic to California, United States.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Moyle |first=Peter B. |url= |title=Inland fishes of California |date=2002 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-92651-6 |edition=Rev. and expanded |location=Berkeley}}</ref>
== Etymology == From Greek ''embios'' meaning 'persistent' and ''tokos'' meaning 'birth', alluding to the viviparous reproduction exhibited by embiotocids.
== Fossil record == Fossil embiotocids have been found in California, including ''Eriquius plectrodes'' from the Late Miocene<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Longo |first1=Gary |last2=Bernardi |first2=Giacomo |date=July 2015 |title=The evolutionary history of the embiotocid surfperch radiation based on genome-wide RAD sequence data |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1055790315000962 |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |language=en |volume=88 |pages=55–63 |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2015.03.027 |pmid=25858559 |bibcode=2015MolPE..88...55L |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |date=1975 |title=Neotropical Aradidae in the collections of the California Academy Sciences, San Franciso [sic] (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) |url=https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.part.27215 |journal=Occasional Papers of the California Academy of Sciences |volume=122 |pages=1–28 |doi=10.5962/bhl.part.27215 |issn=0068-5461|doi-access=free }}</ref> and the much younger ''Damalichthys saratogensis''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Casteel |first=Richard W. |date=1978-05-05 |title=Damalichthys saratogensis: A New Freshwater Fish (Embiotocidae) from the Plio-Pleistocene (Blancan) of California |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1443566?origin=crossref |journal=Copeia |volume=1978 |issue=2 |pages=293 |doi=10.2307/1443566|url-access=subscription }}</ref><!-- Pretty sure Damalichthys is no longer accepted as genus. Not sure what the new species combination is. -->
== Description == Surfperches are characterized by deep, laterally compressed bodies and a scaled ridge along the base of the dorsal fin.<ref name=":1" /> In all species, males can be visibly distinguished from females by the presence of the distinct reproductive organ on the anal fin.<ref name=":2" />
== Reproduction == Surfperches are viviparous, an uncommon trait among marine fishes. Eggs are internally fertilized, and females carry developing embryos for several months.<ref name=":1" /> Embryos develop inside the ovary, and are initially nourished by the yolk<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Tarp |first=Fred Harald |date=1952-10-01 |title=Fish Bulletin No. 88. A Revision of the Family Embiotocidae (The Surfperches) |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3qx7s3cn |language=en}}</ref> and surrounding ovarian fluid.<ref name=":1" /> Embryos have highly vascular dorsal and anal fins which lay against the vascular ovarian wall, absorbing nutrients and oxygen directly from the mother’s blood supply.<ref name=":1" /> Females give live birth to fully formed young instead of laying eggs.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2023 |title=Family: EMBIOTOCIDAE, Surfperches |url=https://biogeodb.stri.si.edu/sftep/en/thefishes/taxon/1599 |website=Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute}}</ref>{{Multiple image | image1 = Cymatogaster aggregata1.jpg | image2 = Cymatogaster aggregata female.jpg | align = center | total_width = 500 | footer = Shiner perch (''Cymatogaster aggregata''): Male in breeding colouration (left), and female pregnant with young (right) }}
== Biology == === Feeding === Diet varies with species and location. For example, the pile surfperch (''Rhacochilus vacca'') specializes on hard-shelled mollusks and crustaceans, while the striped surfperch (''Embiotoca lateralis'') consumes mainly amphipods and bryozoans.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Haldorson |first1=Lewis |last2=Moser |first2=Mike |date=1979-11-28 |title=Geographic Patterns of Prey Utilization in Two Species of Surfperch (Embiotocidae) |url=https://doi.org/10.2307/1443863 |journal=Copeia |volume=1979 |issue=4 |pages=567 |doi=10.2307/1443863 |jstor=1443863 |issn=0045-8511|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
==See also== * List of fish families
==References== {{Commons category|Embiotocidae}} <references responsive="0" /> {{Taxonbar|from=Q851697}}
Category:Embiotocidae Category:Viviparous fish Category:Taxa named by Louis Agassiz