Lithognathus

Lithognathus is a genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Sparidae, which includes the seabreams and porgies. Species in this genus are given the common name of steenbras. The genus is found in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean from southwestern Europe to South Africa and into the southwestern Indian Ocean.

==Taxonomy== Lithognathus was first proposed as taxon in 1839 by the English zoologist William Swainson, Swainson named it as a monotypic subgenus of Pagellus with Pagellus (Lithognathus) capensis as its only species and, therefore, its type species. Swainson's name is now understood to be a junior synonym of Pagrus lithognathus which had been described in 1829 by Georges Cuvier, with its type locality given as the Cape of Good Hope. The genus Lithognathus is placed in the family Sparidae within the order Spariformes by the 5th edition of Fishes of the World. Some authorities classify this genus in the subfamily Pagellinae, but the 5th edition of Fishes of the World does not recognise subfamilies within the Sparidae.