The Gonorynchiformes are an order of

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 ...

that includes the important food source, the

milkfish The milkfish (''Chanos chanos'') is the sole living species in the family Chanidae. However, there are at least five extinct genera from the Cretaceous. The repeating scientific name (tautonym) is from Greek ( ‘mouth’). The species has many ...

(''Chanos chanos'', family Chanidae), and a number of lesser-known types, both marine and

freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include ...

. The alternate spelling "Gonorhynchiformes", with an "h", is frequently seen but not official. Gonorynchiformes have small mouths and no teeth. They are the sole group in the clade Anotophysi, a subgroup of the superorder

Ostariophysi Ostariophysi is the second-largest superorder of fish. Members of this superorder are called ostariophysians. This diverse group contains 10,758 species, about 28% of known fish species in the world and 68% of freshwater species, and are present ...

. They are characterized by a primitive

Weberian apparatus The Weberian apparatus is an anatomical structure that connects the swim bladder to the auditory system in fishes belonging to the superorder Ostariophysi. When it is fully developed in adult fish, the elements of the apparatus are sometimes col ...

formed by the first three vertebrae and one or more cephalic ribs within the head. This apparatus is believed to be a hearing organ, and is found in a more advanced and complex form in the related

cypriniform Cypriniformes is an order of ray-finned fish, including the carps, minnows, loaches, and relatives. Cypriniformes is an Order within the Superorder Ostariophysi consisting of "Carp-like" Ostariophysins. This order contains 11-12 families ...

fish, such as

carp Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish from the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. While carp is consumed in many parts of the world, they are generally considered an invasive species in parts of ...

. Also like the cypriniforms, the gonorynchiforms produce a substance from their skin when injured that dissolves into the water and acts an alarm signal to other fish.

Taxonomy

Although many of the families are rather small, there are several fossil genera. This listing of the groups of Gonorynchiformes includes fossil fish with a short description. They are listed in approximate order of how primitive their characteristics are. * Order †Sorbininardiformes Taverne 1999 ** Family †Sorbininardidae Taverne 1999 *** Genus †'' Sorbininardus'' Taverne 1999 * Order Gonorynchiformes Regan 1909 ** Suborder Gonorynchoidei - beaked sandfishes *** Family † Apulichthyidae Taverne 1997 **** Genus †'' Apulichthys'' Taverne 1997 *** Family

Gonorynchidae Gonorynchidae is a family of the Gonorynchiformes which has a number of fossil taxa and one extant genus, '' Gonorynchus'', the beaked salmons. References *Sepkoski, Jack (2002). "A compendium of fossil marine animal genera". Bulletins of Ameri ...

Fowler 1941 **** †'' Anormurus'' de Blainville 1818 **** †'' Chanopsis'' Casier 1961 **** †'' Charitopsis'' Gayet 1993 non Trjapitzin 1969 **** †'' Gonorynchidarum'' otolith **** †'' Hakeliosomus'' Gayet 1993 **** †'' Protocatostomus'' Whitfield 1891 **** †''

Ramallichthys ''Ramallichthys'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish that lived during the lower Cenomanian. See also * Prehistoric fish The evolution of fish began about 530 million years ago during the Cambrian explosion. It was during this ...

'' Gayet 1982 **** Subfamily †Charitosominae ***** †'' Charitosomus'' Hosius & Von Der Marck 1885 - Cretaceous **** Subfamily †Judeichthyinae ***** †''

Judeichthys ''Judeichthys'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric ray-finned fish that lived during the lower Cenomanian. There is one currently known species, ''Judeichthys haasi'', which was found near Ramallah in Palestine. See also * Prehistoric fish ...

'' Gayet 1985 **** Subfamily Gonorynchinae ***** †''

Notogoneus ''Notogoneus'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric ray-finned fish. A trace fossil attributed to ''Notogoneus osculus'' has been found in the Green River Formation. See also *Prehistoric fish The evolution of fish began about 530 million ...

'' Cope 1885 - from North America, Europe, Australia; some freshwater; Late Cretaceous to Oligocene ***** ''

Gonorynchus ''Gonorynchus'' is a genus of long thin gonorynchiform ray-finned fish, commonly called beaked salmon or beaked sandfish that live on sandy bottoms near shorelines. There are five known extant species which are placed in this genus. All have a ...

'' Gronow 1763 ex Scopoli 1777 ** Suborder Chanoidei Berg 1937 *** †'' Aethalinopsis'' Gaudant 1967 - Early

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 ...

. *** Family Chanidae Günther 1868 (milkfishes) **** Subfamily † Rubiesichthyinae Poyata-Ariza 1996 ***** Genus †'' Gordichthys'' Poyata-Ariza 1994- Early Cretaceous Chanid ***** Genus †'' Nanaichthys'' Amaral & Brito 2012 ***** Genus †'' Rubiesichthys'' Wenz 1984 - Early Cretaceous Chanid **** Subfamily Chaninae ***** Genus '' Chanos'' Lacépède 1803 ***** Genus †'' Dastilbe'' Jordan 1910 - Early Cretaceous Chanid ***** Genus †'' Parachanos'' Arambourg & Schneegans 1935 - Early Cretaceous Chanid ***** Genus †''

Tharrhias ''Tharrhias'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish that lived during the Aptian stage of the Early Cretaceous epoch. The type species ''T. araripis'' is named after the Araripe Basin, in which it was found in sediments of the Santana Fo ...

'' Jordan & Branner 1908 - Early Cretaceous Chanid ** Suborder Knerioidei *** Family

Kneriidae The Kneriidae are a small family of freshwater gonorhynchiform fishes native to Africa. They typically live in fast-flowing highland streams, and are small fish, no more than in length. Some species are sexually dimorphic, with the male posses ...

Günther 1868 **** Genus †'' Mahengichthys'' Davis, Arratia & Kaiser 2013 **** Subfamily Kneriinae (Shellears) ***** Tribe Cromeriini ****** Genus '' Cromeria'' Boulenger 1901 ****** Genus '' Grasseichthys'' Géry 1964 ***** Tribe Kneriini ****** Genus ''

Kneria ''Kneria'' is a genus of small fish in the family Kneriidae. All 13 species in this genus are restricted to Africa. Named in honor of Austrian ichthyologist Rudolf Kner (1810-1869) Species FishBase lists 13 species: * '' Kneria angolensis ...

'' Steindachner 1866 ****** Genus '' Parakneria'' Poll 1965 *** Family

Phractolaemidae The hingemouth (''Phractolaemus ansorgii'') is a small freshwater fish that is found only in west central Africa, the sole member of the subfamily Phractolaeminae of the family Kneriidae. The mouth can extend like a small trunk, thus the name, ...

**** Genus '' Phractolaemus'' Boulenger 1901 (Hingemouths/snake mudheads)

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:NAM10 bar:NAM11 bar:NAM12 bar:NAM13 bar:NAM14 bar:NAM15 bar:NAM16 bar:NAM17 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:

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:earlycretaceous bar:NAM1 from: -145.5 till: -140.2 text: Aethalionopsis color:earlycretaceous bar:NAM2 from: -140.2 till: -130 text: Rubiesichthys color:earlycretaceous bar:NAM3 from: -125 till: -112 text: Chanopsis color:earlycretaceous bar:NAM4 from: -125 till: -112 text: Dastilbe color:earlycretaceous bar:NAM5 from: -125 till: -112 text:

color:earlycretaceous bar:NAM6 from: -125 till: -93.5 text: Caeus color:latecretaceous bar:NAM7 from: -99.6 till: -97.6 text: Charitopsis color:latecretaceous bar:NAM8 from: -99.6 till: -97.6 text:

color:latecretaceous bar:NAM9 from: -99.6 till: -97.6 text:

color:latecretaceous bar:NAM10 from: -99.6 till: -93.5 text: Lusitanichthys color:latecretaceous bar:NAM11 from: -99.6 till: -93.5 text: Salminops color:latecretaceous bar:NAM12 from: -95.5 till: -83.5 text: Charitosomus color:eocene bar:NAM13 from: -55.8 till: -48.6 text: Halecopsis color:eocene bar:NAM14 from: -55.8 till: -33.9 text: Coelogaster color:eocene bar:NAM15 from: -55.8 till: -23.03 text:

color:eocene bar:NAM16 from: -55.8 till: 0 text: Chanos color:oligocene bar:NAM17 from: -33.9 till: -28.4 text: Neohalecopsis 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

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q755012 Extant Early Cretaceous first appearances Ray-finned fish orders Taxa named by Lev Berg