The Aulopidae are a small family of

aulopiform Aulopiformes is a diverse order of marine ray-finned fish consisting of some 15 extant and several prehistoric families with about 45 genera and over 230 species. The common names grinners, lizardfishes and allies, or aulopiforms are sometimes ...

fish. They are found in most tropical and subtropical oceans, and are commonly known as flagfins. The aulopids resemble

lizardfish The Synodontidae or lizardfishes(or typical lizardfish to distinguish them from the Bathysauridae and Pseudotrichonotidae) are benthic (bottom-dwelling) marine and estuarine bony fishes that belong to the aulopiform fish order, a diverse group ...

es in appearance, and range up to in length. They have large

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through conv ...

s, the first ray of which is greatly extended. They are bottom-dwelling fish, living at depths of .

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1426753 Aulopiformes Ray-finned fish families