A checklist of the sparid fishes of the world is presented. The checklist contains 166 valid species, 260 synonyms, including 26 that are here recognized as new, and 19 unplaced nominal species. Seven nominal species recorded as sparid in the Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes are here recognized to belong to different families and among them three nominal species predate well established fish names and are here declared nomina oblita. A list of unavailable names is also included.