The Beryciformes are a poorly-understood

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

of carnivorous

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 ...

es consisting of 7 families, 30 genera, and 161 species. They feed on small

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

and

invertebrates Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

. Beyond this, little is known about the biology of most member species because of their nocturnal habits and deepwater habitats. All beryciform species are marine and most live in

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout t ...

, deepwater environments. Most live on the

continental shelf A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an island ...

and continental slope, with some species being found as deep as . Some species move closer to the surface at night, while others live entirely in shallow water and are

nocturnal Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed sens ...

, hiding in rock crevices and caves during the day. Several species are mesopelagic and

bathypelagic The bathypelagic zone or bathyal zone (from Greek βαθύς (bathýs), deep) is the part of the open ocean that extends from a depth of below the ocean surface. It lies between the mesopelagic above, and the abyssopelagic below. The bathypelagic ...

. Beryciformes' bodies are deep and mildly compressed, typically with large eyes that help them see in darker waters. Colors range from red to yellow and brown to black, and sizes range from . Member

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

include the alfonsinos, squirrelfishes, flashlight fishes, fangtooth fishes, spinyfins, pineconefishes, redfishes, roughies, and slimeheads. A number of member species are caught

commercially Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, nation ...

, including the alfonsino, the splendid alfonsino, and the

orange roughy The orange roughy (''Hoplostethus atlanticus''), also known as the red roughy, slimehead and deep sea perch, is a relatively large deep-sea fish belonging to the slimehead family (Trachichthyidae). The UK Marine Conservation Society has categoriz ...

, the latter being much more economically important. Some species have

bioluminescent Bioluminescence is the production and emission of light by living organisms. It is a form of chemiluminescence. Bioluminescence occurs widely in marine vertebrates and invertebrates, as well as in some Fungus, fungi, microorganisms including ...

bacteria contained in pockets of skin or in light organs near the eyes, including the anomalopids and monocentrids.

Taxonomy and phylogeny

Beryciforms first appeared during the

Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', the ...

period and have survived to today in relative abundance. They are considered the most primitive order in Acanthopterygii, and as such are split off at the base of the cladogram below from the rest of the member orders. Beryciforms are distinguished by having 18–19

caudal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

rays, as opposed to percomorphs, which have 17. Having fewer caudal fin rays is considered a sign of a more recently evolved species among fish. The whalefishes,

beardfish The beardfishes consist of a single extant genus, '' Polymixia'', of deep-sea marine ray-finned fish named for their pair of long hyoid barbels. They are classified in their own order Polymixiiformes . But as Nelson says, "few groups have been s ...

es, gibberfishes, and pricklefishes were once considered members of Beryciformes, but have since been assigned to separate orders. A recent phylogeny based on the work Betancur-Rodriguez ''et al.'' 2017. The Gibberichthyidae (gibberfishes) and

Hispidoberycidae ''Hispidoberyx ambagiosus,'' the bristlyskin, is a species of spiny-scale pricklefish found in the Indian and Pacific Oceans at depths from . This species grows to standard length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and variou ...

(spiny-scale pricklefish) of suborder Stephanoberycoidei were not examined.

Older classification

The order contains 7 families, 30 genera, and 161 species: * Order Beryciformes ** Suborder Berycoidei *** Berycidae (alfonsinos, nannygais) ** Suborder Holocentroidei ***

Holocentridae Holocentridae is a family of ray-finned fish, the only family of the order Holocentriformes. The members of the subfamily Holocentrinae are typically known as squirrelfish, while the members of Myripristinae typically are known as soldierfish.Lie ...

(soldierfishes, squirrelfishes) ** Suborder Trachichthyoidei ***

Anomalopidae Anomalopidae (lanterneye fishes or flashlight fishes) are a family of fish distinguished by bioluminescent organs located underneath their eyes, for which they are named. These light organs contain luminous bacteria and can be "shut off" by the f ...

(flashlight fishes, lanterneye fishes) *** Diretmidae (spinyfins) ***

Monocentridae Pinecone fishes are small and unusual marine fish of the family ''Monocentridae''. The family contains just four species in two genera, one of which is monotypic. Their distribution is limited to tropical and subtropical waters of the Indo-Pac ...

(pineconefishes, pineapple fishes) *** Trachichthyidae (incl. Anoplogastridae)(slimeheads, redfishes, roughies, fangtooth fishes) * Order Cetomimiformes ** Family Rondeletiidae (redmouth whalefishes) ** Family Barbourisiidae (red/velvet whalefishes) ** Family Cetomimidae (flabby whalefishes) * Order Stephanoberyciformes ** Family

Melamphaidae Ridgeheads, also known as bigscales, are a family (Melamphaidae, from the Greek ''melanos'' lackand ''amphi'' y both sides of small, deep-sea stephanoberyciform fish. The family contains approximately 37 species in five genera; their distributi ...

(bigscale fishes) ** Family Gibberichthyidae (gibberfishes) ** Family

(Spiny-scale pricklefishes) ** Family

Stephanoberycidae Stephanoberycidae, the pricklefishes are a family of fishes in the order Stephanoberyciformes. They are found in tropical and subtropical waters of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and to the Indian Ocean off the coast of South Africa. They are ...

(pricklefishes)

Human interaction

Santiago, Praza de Abastos castañeta encarnada

The Beryciformes are generally not important to humans, and their trend towards living in deeper waters generally keeps many species away from human activity. Several species are found in the aquarium trade, however. Pineapplefishes are of interest to fishkeepers for their bright colors, while squirrelfishes' shallower reef habitats and bright red colors make them more easily collected. Flashlight fishes are also kept as pets because of the bioluminescent organs underneath their eyes. The alfonsinos and orange roughy are of a different interest to humans, targeted by deepwater commercial fisheries. Increased catches could lead to steep population declines for these species as their extended lifespans make them vulnerable to

overfishing Overfishing is the removal of a species of fish (i.e. fishing) from a body of water at a rate greater than that the species can replenish its population naturally (i.e. the overexploitation of the fishery's existing fish stock), resulting in th ...

. The orange roughy, for example, can live up to 149 years, but takes anywhere from 23 to 40 years to begin reproducing.Managing risk and uncertainty in deep-sea fisheries: lessons from Orange Roughy
/ref> Despite these risks, most of the species that have been evaluated by the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

(IUCN) are listed as

Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

Data Deficient A data deficient (DD) species is one which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as offering insufficient information for a proper assessment of conservation status to be made. This does not necessaril ...

; only a few are classified as Vulnerable.

Timeline of genera

The Beryciformes first appeared in the Late Cretaceous and still survive today in relative abundance. 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:NAM10 bar:NAM11 bar:NAM12 bar:NAM13 bar:NAM14 bar:NAM15 bar:NAM16 bar:NAM17 bar:NAM18 bar:NAM20 bar:NAM21 bar:NAM22 bar:NAM23 bar:NAM24 bar:NAM25 bar:NAM26 bar:NAM27 bar:NAM28 bar:NAM29 bar:NAM30 bar:NAM31 bar:NAM32 bar:NAM33 bar:NAM34 bar:NAM35 bar:NAM36 bar:NAM37 bar:NAM38 bar:NAM39 bar:NAM40 bar:NAM41 bar:NAM42 bar:NAM43 bar:NAM44 bar:NAM45 bar:NAM46 bar:NAM47 bar:NAM48 bar:NAM49 bar:NAM50 bar:NAM51 bar:NAM52 bar:NAM53 bar:NAM54 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 Early may refer to: History * The beginning or oldest part of a defined historical period, as opposed to middle or late periods, e.g.: ** Early Christianity ** Early modern Europe Places in the United States * Early, Iowa * Early, Texas * 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:-99.6 till:-93.5 text: Cryptoberyx color:latecretaceous bar:NAM2 from:-99.6 till:-93.5 text: Judeoberyx color:latecretaceous bar:NAM3 from:-99.6 till:-93.5 text: Libanoberyx color:latecretaceous bar:NAM4 from:-99.6 till:-93.5 text: Lissoberyx color:latecretaceous bar:NAM5 from:-99.6 till:-93.5 text: Lobopterus color:latecretaceous bar:NAM6 from:-99.6 till:-93.5 text: Pattersonoberyx color:latecretaceous bar:NAM7 from:-99.6 till:-93.5 text: Plesioberyx color:latecretaceous bar:NAM8 from:-99.6 till:-93.5 text: Stichoberyx color:latecretaceous bar:NAM9 from:-99.6 till:-93.5 text: Stichocentrus color:latecretaceous bar:NAM10 from:-99.6 till:-93.5 text: Stichopteryx color:latecretaceous bar:NAM11 from:-99.6 till:-83.5 text: Trachichythyoides color:latecretaceous bar:NAM12 from:-99.6 till:-70.6 text: Hoplopteryx color:latecretaceous bar:NAM13 from:-95.5 till:-93.5 text: Pycnosteroides color:latecretaceous bar:NAM14 from:-93.5 till:-89.3 text: Adriacentrus color:latecretaceous bar:NAM15 from:-93.5 till:-89.3 text: Erugocentrus color:latecretaceous bar:NAM16 from:-93.5 till:-83.5 text: Caproberyx color:latecretaceous bar:NAM17 from:-85.8 till:-83.5 text: Alloberyx color:latecretaceous bar:NAM18 from:-85.8 till:-83.5 text: Ctenocephalichthys color:latecretaceous bar:NAM20 from:-85.8 till:-83.5 text: Dinopteryx color:latecretaceous bar:NAM21 from:-85.8 till:-83.5 text: Gnathoberyx color:latecretaceous bar:NAM22 from:-85.8 till:-83.5 text: Inocentrus color:latecretaceous bar:NAM23 from:-85.8 till:-83.5 text: Kansius color:latecretaceous bar:NAM24 from:-85.8 till:-83.5 text: Parospinus color:latecretaceous bar:NAM25 from:-85.8 till:-70.6 text: Acrogaster color:latecretaceous bar:NAM26 from:-74.9 till:-70.6 text:

Tubantia ''Tubantia'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish that lived during the upper Campanian. See also * Prehistoric fish * List of prehistoric bony fish A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: Peopl ...

color:paleocene bar:NAM27 from:-65.5 till:0 text: Centroberyx color:paleocene bar:NAM28 from:-65.5 till:0 text: Ctenoberyx color:eocene bar:NAM29 from:-55.8 till:-48.6 text: Argilloberyx color:eocene bar:NAM30 from:-55.8 till:-48.6 text: Naupygus color:eocene bar:NAM31 from:-55.8 till:-48.6 text: Paraberyx color:eocene bar:NAM32 from:-55.8 till:-48.6 text: Scianenuropsis color:eocene bar:NAM33 from:-55.8 till:-33.9 text: Berybolcensis color:eocene bar:NAM34 from:-55.8 till:-33.9 text: Eoholocentrum color:eocene bar:NAM35 from:-55.8 till:-33.9 text: Tenuicentrum color:eocene bar:NAM36 from:-55.8 till:0 text:

Holocentrus ''Holocentrus'' is a genus of squirrelfishes found in the Atlantic Ocean. Species There are currently two recognized species in this genus: * '' Holocentrus adscensionis'' ( Osbeck, 1765) (Squirrelfish) * '' Holocentrus rufus'' (Walbaum Walbaum ...

color:eocene bar:NAM37 from:-55.8 till:0 text:

Hoplostethus ''Hoplostethus'' is a genus of fish in the slimehead family. Species There are 30 species in this genus: * '' Hoplostethus abramovi'' Kotlyar, 1986 * ''Hoplostethus atlanticus'' ( Collett, 1889) - orange roughy * '' Hoplostethus cadenati'' Qu� ...

color:eocene bar:NAM38 from:-55.8 till:0 text:

Sargocentron ''Sargocentron'' is a genus of squirrelfish (family Holocentridae) found in tropical parts of the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, with the greatest species diversity near reefs in the Indo-Pacific. Being largely or entirely nocturnal, they ...

color:eocene bar:NAM39 from:-55.8 till:0 text:

Monocentris ''Monocentris'' is a genus of pinecone fishes native to the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Oceans. Species There are currently four recognized species in this genus: * ''Monocentris chrysadamas'' (Yo Su, Hsiu-Chin Lin, and Hsuan-Ching Ho, 2022 ...

color:eocene bar:NAM40 from:-48.6 till:0 text:

Gephyroberyx ''Gephyroberyx'' is a genus of fish in the slimehead family. Species Once, three species were placed in this genus, but ''Gephyroberyx philippinus'' is now considered to be a synonym of ''G. darwinii''.Kim, B.J., Go, Y.B., and Imamura, H. (2004). ...

color:eocene bar:NAM41 from:-48.6 till:0 text: Optivus color:eocene bar:NAM42 from:-37.2 till:-28.4 text: Holocentrites color:eocene bar:NAM43 from:-37.2 till:0 text:

Beryx ''Beryx'' is a genus of alfonsinos found in deep oceanic waters. Two of its member species, ''B. decadactylus'' and ''B. splendens'', are found across nearly the entire globe and are of some commercial importance. Species There are currently th ...

color:oligocene bar:NAM44 from:-33.9 till:-28.4 text: Berycomorus color:oligocene bar:NAM45 from:-33.9 till:-28.4 text: Digoria color:oligocene bar:NAM46 from:-33.9 till:-28.4 text: Pseudholocentrum color:oligocene bar:NAM47 from:-33.9 till:0 text:

Diretmus The silver spinyfin (''Diretmus argenteus'') is a spinyfin of the genus ''Diretmus'', found around the world except the Mediterranean, at depths down to 2,000 m. It belongs to the monotypic genus ''Diretmus''. Their length is between 30 and 40& ...

color:oligocene bar:NAM48 from:-33.9 till:0 text:

Plectrypops ''Plectrypops'' is a genus of soldierfish containing two extant species, with one species in the Indo-Pacific, and another in the western Atlantic and the Caribbean. They are red and reach a length of approximately 15 cm (6 in). Some m ...

color:oligocene bar:NAM49 from:-33.9 till:0 text:

Poromitra ''Poromitra'' is a genus of ridgeheads. The 22 known species of Poromitra have been divided into five species groups according to variation in preopercle anatomy. A Poromitra curilensis specimen from the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, obtaine ...

color:miocene bar:NAM50 from:-23.03 till:0 text:

Myripristis ''Myripristis'' is a genus of soldierfishes. Species There are currently 28 recognized species in this genus: * '' Myripristis adusta'' Bleeker, 1853 (Shadowfin soldierfish) * '' Myripristis amaena'' ( Castelnau, 1873) (Brick soldierfish) * '' ...

color:miocene bar:NAM51 from:-15.97 till:0 text: Kryptophaneron color:miocene bar:NAM52 from:-11.608 till:-5.332 text: Africentrum color:miocene bar:NAM53 from:-11.608 till:0 text: Melamphaes color:miocene bar:NAM54 from:-11.608 till:0 text:

Scopelogadus ''Scopelogadus'' is a genus of ridgeheads. The generic name derives from the Greek σκόπελος (''skopelos'', "lanternfish") and γάδος (''gados'', "(cod) fish"). Species There are currently three recognized species in this genus: * '' ...

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

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=Q749596 Ray-finned fish orders Articles which contain graphical timelines