Beloniformes is an order composed of six

families Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideal ...

(and about 264 species) of freshwater and marine

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or hor ...

: *

Adrianichthyidae The ricefishes are a family (Adrianichthyidae) of small ray-finned fish that are found in fresh and brackish waters from India to Japan and out into the Malay Archipelago, most notably Sulawesi (where the Lake Poso and Lore Lindu species are ...

(ricefish and medakas) *

Belonidae Needlefish (family Belonidae) or long toms are piscivorous fishes primarily associated with very shallow marine habitats or the surface of the open sea. Some genera include species found in marine, brackish, and freshwater environments (e.g., ...

(needlefish) *

Exocoetidae The Exocoetidae are a family of marine fish in the order Beloniformes class Actinopterygii, known colloquially as flying fish or flying cod. About 64 species are grouped in seven to nine genera. While they cannot fly in the same way a bird ...

(flyingfishes) *

Hemiramphidae Hemiramphidae is a family of fishes that are commonly called halfbeaks, spipe fish or spipefish. They are a geographically widespread and numerically abundant family of epipelagic fish inhabiting warm waters around the world. The halfbeaks are ...

(halfbeaks) *

Scomberesocidae Sauries are fish of the family Scomberesocidae. There are two genera, each containing two species. The name Scomberesocidae is derived from the ''scomber'', which in turn is derived from the Greek ''skombros'', meaning "mackerel", and the Latin ...

(sauries) *

Zenarchopteridae Zenarchopteridae, the viviparous halfbeaks, is a family in the order Beloniformes. The Zenarchopteridae exhibit strong sexual dimorphism, practicing internal fertilisation, and in some cases ovoviviparous or viviparous (the family also includes ...

(viviparous halfbeaks) With the exception of the Adrianichthyidae, these are streamlined, medium-sized fishes that live close to the surface of the water, feeding on algae, plankton, or smaller animals including other fishes. Most are marine, though a few needlefish and halfbeaks inhabit brackish and fresh waters. The order is sometimes divided up into two suborders, the Adrianichthyoidei and the Belonoidei, although this clade is referred to as

Exocoetoidei Exocoetoidei is a suborder of the order Beloniformes, which is sometimes known as the Belonoidei. It contains two superfamilies and five families. Classification Exocoetoidei is classified as follows: * Suborder Exocoetoidei ** Superfamily ...

in the 5th edition of ''

Fishes of the World ''Fishes of the World'' by the American ichthyologist Joseph S. Nelson (1937–2011) is a standard reference for fish systematics. Now in its fifth edition (2016), the work is a comprehensive overview of the diversity and classification of the ...

''. The Adrianichthyoidei contain only a single family, the Adrianichthyidae. Originally, the Adrianichthyidae were included in the

Cyprinodontiformes Cyprinodontiformes is an order of ray-finned fish, comprising mostly small, freshwater fish. Many popular aquarium fish, such as killifish and live-bearers, are included. They are closely related to the Atheriniformes and are occasionally inc ...

and assumed to be closely related to the

killifish A killifish is any of various oviparous (egg-laying) cyprinodontiform fish (including families Aplocheilidae, Cyprinodontidae, Fundulidae, Profundulidae and Valenciidae). All together, there are 1,270 species of killifish, the biggest family ...

, but a closer relationship to the beloniforms is indicated by various characteristics including the absence of the interhyal, resulting in the upper jaw being fixed or not protrusible. The Belonoidei may also be further subdivided into two superfamilies, the

Scomberesocoidea Scomberesocoidea is a superfamily within the suborder Exocoetoidei of the order Beloniformes. It consists of two families which are commonly known as the needlefishes and the sauries. Classification The two families within the suborder Scomb ...

and the

Exocoetoidea Exocoetoidea is a superfamily of fishes that comprises three families, the flying fishes, the halfbeaks and the viviparous halfbeaks. They are found in tropical and subtropical waters around the world. Exocoetoidea is part of the suborder Exoc ...

. The Scomberesocoidea contain the Belonidae and Scomberesocidae, while the Exocoetoidea comprise the Exocoetidae, Hemiramphidae and Zenarchopteridae. However, newer evidence shows the flyingfishes are nested within the halfbeaks, and the needlefish and sauries are nested within the subfamily Zenarchopterinae of the family Hemiramphidae, which has been recognized as its own family. The sauries are also nested within the family Belonidae. The beloniforms display an interesting array of jaw morphologies. The basal condition in the order excluding the ricefishes is an elongated lower jaw in juveniles and adults as represented in halfbeaks. In the needlefish and sauries, both jaws are elongated in the adults; the juveniles of most species develop through a "halfbeak stage" before having both jaws elongated. The elongated lower jaw is lost in adults and is lost in most juveniles in the flyingfishes and some halfbeak genera. They are known for many commercial uses, and have about 260 different species. Beloniformes lack a complete sequence of mitogenomes. This leads to many variations in mtDNA, about 35 different ones. To understand evolution for Beloniformes and to identify the larvae, scientists will use Beloniformes to help them study this.

Timeline of genera

ImageSize = width:1000px height:auto barincrement:15px PlotArea = left:10px bottom:50px top:10px right:10px Period = from:-145.5 till:15 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:10 start:-145.5 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:-145.5 TimeAxis = orientation:hor AlignBars = justify Colors = #legends id:CAR value:claret id:ANK value:rgb(0.4,0.3,0.196) id:HER value:teal id:HAD value:green id:OMN value:blue id:black value:black id:white value:white id:cretaceous value:rgb(0.5,0.78,0.31) id:earlycretaceous value:rgb(0.63,0.78,0.65) id:latecretaceous value:rgb(0.74,0.82,0.37) id:cenozoic value:rgb(0.54,0.54,0.258) id:paleogene value:rgb(0.99,0.6,0.32) id:paleocene value:rgb(0.99,0.65,0.37) id:eocene value:rgb(0.99,0.71,0.42) id:oligocene value:rgb(0.99,0.75,0.48) id:neogene value:rgb(0.999999,0.9,0.1) id:miocene value:rgb(0.999999,0.999999,0) id:pliocene value:rgb(0.97,0.98,0.68) id:quaternary value:rgb(0.98,0.98,0.5) id:pleistocene value:rgb(0.999999,0.95,0.68) id:holocene value:rgb(0.999,0.95,0.88) BarData= bar:eratop bar:space bar:periodtop bar:space bar:NAM1 bar:NAM2 bar:NAM3 bar:NAM4 bar:NAM5 bar:NAM6 bar:NAM7 bar:NAM8 bar:NAM9 bar:space bar:period bar:space bar:era PlotData= align:center textcolor:black fontsize:M mark:(line,black) width:25 shift:(7,-4) bar:periodtop from: -145.5 till: -99.6 color:earlycretaceous text: Early from: -99.6 till: -65.5 color:latecretaceous text:

Late Late may refer to: * LATE, an acronym which could stand for: ** Limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy, a proposed form of dementia ** Local-authority trading enterprise, a New Zealand business law ** Local average treatment effect, ...

from: -65.5 till: -55.8 color:paleocene text: Paleo. from: -55.8 till: -33.9 color:eocene text: Eo. from: -33.9 till: -23.03 color:oligocene text: Oligo. from: -23.03 till: -5.332 color:miocene text: Mio. from: -5.332 till: -2.588 color:pliocene text: Pl. from: -2.588 till: -0.0117 color:pleistocene text: Pl. from: -0.0117 till: 0 color:holocene text: H. bar:eratop from: -145.5 till: -65.5 color:cretaceous text:

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...

from: -65.5 till: -23.03 color:paleogene text:

Paleogene The Paleogene ( ; British English, also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene; informally Lower Tertiary or Early Tertiary) is a geologic period, geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period million yea ...

from: -23.03 till: -2.588 color:neogene text:

Neogene The Neogene ( ), informally Upper Tertiary or Late Tertiary, is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period Mya. ...

from: -2.588 till: 0 color:quaternary text: Q. PlotData= align:left fontsize:M mark:(line,white) width:5 anchor:till align:left color:latecretaceous bar:NAM1 from:-70.6 till:-65.5 text: Hemilampronites color:eocene bar:NAM2 from:-55.8 till:-33.9 text: Xiphopterus color:eocene bar:NAM3 from:-55.8 till:0 text: Hemirhamphus color:eocene bar:NAM4 from:-48.6 till:-37.2 text: Rhamphexocoetus color:oligocene bar:NAM5 from:-33.9 till:0 text:

Belone ''Belone'' is a genus of needlefish common in brackish and marine waters. It is one of ten genera in the family Belonidae. Species Three recognised species are in this genus: * ''Belone belone'' (Linnaeus, 1761) (garfish) * ''Belone euxini'' G� ...

color:oligocene bar:NAM6 from:-33.9 till:0 text: Cobitopsis color:miocene bar:NAM7 from:-11.608 till:0 text:

Euleptorhamphus ''Euleptorhamphus'' is a genus of halfbeaks (family Hemiramphidae) in the order Beloniformes. Species There are currently two recognized species in this genus: * '' Euleptorhamphus velox'' Poey, 1868 (Flying halfbeak) * '' Euleptorhamphus vi ...

color:miocene bar:NAM8 from:-11.608 till:0 text:

Hyporhamphus ''Hyporhamphus'' is a genus of halfbeaks. The species in this genus are distributed throughout the warmer seas of the world, most species being Indo-Pacific and there are some freshwater species. Species There are currently 37 recognized speci ...

color:miocene bar:NAM9 from:-11.608 till:0 text:

Scomberesox ''Scomberesox'' is a genus of sauries. It is one of two in the family Scomberesocidae. The generic name ''Scomberesox'' is a he name id a compound of ''scomber'', which in turn is derived from the Greek ''skombros'', meaning "mackerel", and the ...

PlotData= align:center textcolor:black fontsize:M mark:(line,black) width:25 bar:period from: -145.5 till: -99.6 color:earlycretaceous text: Early from: -99.6 till: -65.5 color:latecretaceous text:

from: -65.5 till: -23.03 color:paleogene text:

from: -23.03 till: -2.588 color:neogene text:

from: -2.588 till: 0 color:quaternary text: Q.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q329667 Ray-finned fish orders Ovalentaria Taxa named by Lev Berg