Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a
class
Class or The Class may refer to:
Common uses not otherwise categorized
* Class (biology), a taxonomic rank
* Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects
* Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differently ...
of
bony fish
Osteichthyes (), popularly referred to as the bony fish, is a diverse superclass of fish that have skeletons primarily composed of bone tissue. They can be contrasted with the Chondrichthyes, which have skeletons primarily composed of cartilag ...
. They comprise over 50% of living
vertebrate species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...
.
The ray-finned
fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or horny spines (rays), as opposed to the fleshy, lobed fins that characterize the class
Sarcopterygii
Sarcopterygii (; ) — sometimes considered synonymous with Crossopterygii () — is a taxon (traditionally a class or subclass) of the bony fishes known as the lobe-finned fishes. The group Tetrapoda, a mostly terrestrial superclass includi ...
(lobe-finned fish). These actinopterygian fin rays attach directly to the proximal or basal skeletal elements, the radials, which represent the link or connection between these fins and the internal skeleton (e.g., pelvic and pectoral girdles).
By species count, actinopterygians dominate the
vertebrates, and they constitute nearly 99% of the over 30,000 species of fish. They are ubiquitous throughout
freshwater and
marine
Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean.
Marine or marines may refer to:
Ocean
* Maritime (disambiguation)
* Marine art
* Marine biology
* Marine debris
* Marine habitats
* Marine life
* Marine pollution
Military ...
environments from the deep sea to the highest mountain streams. Extant species can range in size from ''
Paedocypris
''Paedocypris'' is a genus of tiny cyprinid fish found in swamps and streams on the Southeast Asian islands of Borneo, Sumatra and Bintan.
''Paedocypris progenetica'' has been claimed to be the one of smallest known species of fish in the world ...
'', at , to the massive
ocean sunfish, at , and the long-bodied
oarfish
Oarfish are huge, greatly elongated, pelagic lampriform fish belonging to the small family Regalecidae. Found in areas spanning from temperate ocean zones to tropical ones, yet rarely seen, the oarfish family contains three species in two gener ...
, at . The vast majority of Actinopterygii (~99%) are
teleosts.
Characteristics
Ray-finned fishes occur in many variant forms. The main features of typical ray-finned fish are shown in the adjacent diagram. The swim bladder is the more derived structure.
Ray-finned fishes have many different types of scales; but all
teleosts have
leptoid scales. The outer part of these scales fan out with bony ridges, while the inner part is crossed with fibrous connective tissue. Leptoid scales are thinner and more transparent than other types of scales, and lack the hardened enamel or dentine-like layers found in the scales of many other fish. Unlike ganoid scales, which are found in non-teleost actinopterygians, new scales are added in concentric layers as the fish grows.
Ray-finned and lobe-finned fishes sometimes possesses lungs used for aerial respiration. Only bichirs retain ventrally budding lungs.
Body shapes and fin arrangements
Ray-finned fish vary in size and shape, in their feeding specializations, and in the number and arrangement of their ray-fins.
Reproduction
In nearly all ray-finned fish, the sexes are separate, and in most species the females spawn eggs that are fertilized externally, typically with the male inseminating the eggs after they are laid. Development then proceeds with a free-swimming larval stage. However other patterns of
ontogeny exist, with one of the commonest being
sequential hermaphroditism. In most cases this involves
protogyny
Sequential hermaphroditism (called dichogamy in botany) is a type of hermaphroditism that occurs in many fish, gastropods, and plants. Sequential hermaphroditism occurs when the individual changes its sex at some point in its life. In particular, ...
, fish starting life as females and converting to males at some stage, triggered by some internal or external factor.
Protandry, where a fish converts from male to female, is much less common than protogyny.
Most families use
external rather than
internal fertilization.
Of the
oviparous
Oviparous animals are animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive method of most fish, amphibians, most reptiles, and all pterosaurs, dinosaurs (including birds), and ...
teleosts, most (79%) do not provide parental care.
Viviparity
Among animals, viviparity is development of the embryo inside the body of the parent. This is opposed to oviparity which is a reproductive mode in which females lay developing eggs that complete their development and hatch externally from the m ...
,
ovoviviparity, or some form of parental care for eggs, whether by the male, the female, or both parents is seen in a significant fraction (21%) of the 422 teleost families; no care is likely the ancestral condition.
The oldest case of viviparity in ray-finned fish is found in
Middle Triassic
In the geologic timescale, the Middle Triassic is the second of three epochs of the Triassic period or the middle of three series in which the Triassic system is divided in chronostratigraphy. The Middle Triassic spans the time between Ma an ...
species of ''
Saurichthys
''Saurichthys'' (from el, σαῦρος , 'lizard' and el, ἰχθῦς 'fish') is an extinct genus of predatory ray-finned fish from the Triassic period. It type genus family Saurichthyidae (Changhsingian-Middle Jurassic), and the largest ...
''. Viviparity is relatively rare and is found in about 6% of living teleost species; male care is far more common than female care.
Male territoriality
"preadapts" a species for evolving male parental care.
There are a few examples of fish that self-fertilise. The
mangrove rivulus
The mangrove killifish or mangrove rivulus, ''Kryptolebias marmoratus'' ( syn. ''Rivulus marmoratus''), is a species of killifish in the family Rivulidae. It lives in brackish and marine waters (less frequently in fresh water) along the coasts ...
is an amphibious, simultaneous hermaphrodite, producing both eggs and spawn and having internal fertilisation. This mode of reproduction may be related to the fish's habit of spending long periods out of water in the mangrove forests it inhabits. Males are occasionally produced at temperatures below and can fertilise eggs that are then spawned by the female. This maintains genetic variability in a species that is otherwise highly inbred.
Classification and fossil record
Actinopterygii is divided into the classes
Cladistia
Cladistia is a clade of bony fishes whose only living members are the bichirs. Their major synapomorphies are a heterocercal tail in which the dorsal fin has independent rays, and a posteriorly elongated parasphenoid.
Cladistia are the earlies ...
and
Actinopteri
Actinopteri is the sister group of Cladistia in the class Actinopterygii (ray-finned fish).
Dating back to the Permian period, the Actinopteri comprise the Chondrostei (sturgeons and paddlefish) and the Neopterygii (bowfin, gars, and teleosts) ...
. The latter comprises the subclasses
Chondrostei
Chondrostei is a group of non- neopterygian ray-finned fish, while the term originally referred to a paraphyletic group of all non-neopterygian ray-finned fish, it was redefined by Patterson in 1982 to be a clade comprising the Acipenseriformes ( ...
and
Neopterygii. The
Neopterygii, in turn, is divided into the infraclasses
Holostei and
Teleostei
Teleostei (; Greek ''teleios'' "complete" + ''osteon'' "bone"), members of which are known as teleosts ), is, by far, the largest infraclass in the class Actinopterygii, the ray-finned fishes, containing 96% of all extant species of fish. Tele ...
. During the
Mesozoic (
Triassic
The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 Mya. The Triassic is the first and shortest period ...
,
Jurassic,
Cretaceous) and
Cenozoic
The Cenozoic ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterised by the dominance of mammals, birds and flowering plants, a cooling and drying climate, and the current configurat ...
the teleosts in particular
diversified widely. As a result, 96% of living fish species are teleosts (40% of all fish species belong to the teleost subgroup
Acanthomorpha
Acanthomorpha (meaning "thorn-shaped") is an extraordinarily diverse taxon of teleost fishes with spiny rays. The clade contains about one third of the world's modern species of vertebrates: over 14,000 species.
A key anatomical innovation in ...
), while all other groups of actinopterygians represent depauperate lineages.
The classification of ray-finned fishes can be summarized as follows:
* Cladistia, which include bichirs and reedfish
* Actinopteri, which include:
** Chondrostei, which include Acipenseriformes (paddlefishes and sturgeons)
** Neopterygii, which include:
***Teleostei (most living fishes)
***Holostei, which include:
****Lepisosteiformes (gars)
****Amiiformes (bowfin)
The
cladogram
A cladogram (from Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an evolutionary tree because it does not show how ancestors are related to ...
below shows the main
clades of living actinopterygians and their evolutionary relationships to other
extant
Extant is the opposite of the word extinct. It may refer to:
* Extant hereditary titles
* Extant literature, surviving literature, such as ''Beowulf'', the oldest extant manuscript written in English
* Extant taxon, a taxon which is not extin ...
groups of
fishes and the four-limbed vertebrates (
tetrapods).
The latter include mostly terrestrial
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...
but also groups that became
secondarily aquatic (e.g.
Whales and Dolphins). Tetrapods
evolved
Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variati ...
from a group of
bony fish
Osteichthyes (), popularly referred to as the bony fish, is a diverse superclass of fish that have skeletons primarily composed of bone tissue. They can be contrasted with the Chondrichthyes, which have skeletons primarily composed of cartilag ...
during the
Devonian period
Period may refer to:
Common uses
* Era, a length or span of time
* Full stop (or period), a punctuation mark
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Period (music), a concept in musical composition
* Periodic sentence (or rhetorical period), a concept ...
.
Approximate
divergence
In vector calculus, divergence is a vector operator that operates on a vector field, producing a scalar field giving the quantity of the vector field's source at each point. More technically, the divergence represents the volume density of t ...
dates for the different actinopterygian clades (in
millions of years, mya) are from Near et al., 2012.
The polypterids (bichirs and reedfish) are the
sister lineage
In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree.
Definition
The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram:
Taxon A and ...
of all other actinopterygians, the Acipenseriformes (sturgeons and paddlefishes) are the sister lineage of Neopterygii, and Holostei (bowfin and gars) are the sister lineage of teleosts. The
Elopomorpha
The superorder Elopomorpha contains a variety of types of fishes that range from typical silvery-colored species, such as the tarpons and ladyfishes of the Elopiformes and the bonefishes of the Albuliformes, to the long and slender, smooth-bodi ...
(
eel
Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...
s and
tarpon
Tarpons are fish of the genus ''Megalops''. They are the only members of the family Megalopidae. Of the two species, one (''M. atlanticus'') is native to the Atlantic, and the other (''M. cyprinoides'') to the Indo-Pacific Oceans.
Species and ...
s) appear to be the most
basal teleosts.
The earliest known
fossil actinopterygian is ''
Andreolepis hedei'', dating back 420 million years (
Late Silurian), remains of which have been found in
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eight ...
,
Sweden, and
Estonia. Crown group actinopterygians most likely originated near the Devonian-Carboniferous boundary.
The earliest fossil relatives of modern teleosts are from the
Triassic
The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 Mya. The Triassic is the first and shortest period ...
period
Period may refer to:
Common uses
* Era, a length or span of time
* Full stop (or period), a punctuation mark
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Period (music), a concept in musical composition
* Periodic sentence (or rhetorical period), a concept ...
(''
Prohalecites
''Prohalecites'' is an extinct genus of ray-finned fish from the Ladinian and possibly Carnian (Triassic) of Italy. It is the oldest known teleosteomorph, a group that includes extant teleosts and their close fossil relatives.
The type an ...
'', ''
Pholidophorus
''Pholidophorus'' (from el, φολῐ́ς , 'horny scale' and el, φέρω , 'to bear') is an extinct genus of stem- teleost fish. Numerous species were assigned to this genus in the past, but only the type species ''Pholidophorus latiusculu ...
''),
although it is suspected that teleosts originated already during the
Paleozoic Era.
Taxonomy
The listing below is a summary of all
extinct (indicated by a
dagger, †) and living groups of Actinopterygii with their respective
taxonomic rank. The
taxonomy follows
Phylogenetic Classification of Bony Fishes with notes when this differs from Nelson,
ITIS
The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) is an American partnership of federal agencies designed to provide consistent and reliable information on the taxonomy of biological species. ITIS was originally formed in 1996 as an interagenc ...
and
FishBase
FishBase is a global species database of fish species (specifically finfish). It is the largest and most extensively accessed online database on adult finfish on the web. and extinct groups from Van der Laan 2016 and Xu 2021.
* Order †?
Asarotiformes
''Asarotus'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish that lived during the Campanian
The Campanian is the fifth of six ages of the Late Cretaceous Epoch on the geologic timescale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). In ...
Schaeffer 1968
* Order †?
Discordichthyiformes Minikh 1998
* Order †?
Paphosisciformes Grogan & Lund 2015
* Order †?
Scanilepiformes Selezneya 1985
* Order †
Cheirolepidiformes Kazantseva-Selezneva 1977
* Order †
Paramblypteriformes Heyler 1969
* Order †
Rhadinichthyiformes
* Order †
Palaeonisciformes
The Palaeonisciformes (Palaeoniscida) are an extinct order of early ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii). Palaeonisciformes ''sensu lato'' first appeared in the fossil record in the Late Silurian and last appeared in the Late Cretaceous. The name ...
Hay 1902
* Order †
Tarrasiiformes
Tarasiiformes is an extinct order of prehistoric ray-finned fish.
Taxonomy
* Order †Tarrasiiformes sensu Lund & Poplin 2002 aplistiaref name="mikko">
** Family †Tarrasiidae Traquair 1881 emend. Woodward 1891
*** Genus †'' Apholidotos'' ...
sensu Lund & Poplin 2002
* Order †
Ptycholepiformes Andrews et al. 1967
* Order †
Haplolepidiformes Westoll 1944
* Order †
Aeduelliformes Heyler 1969
* Order †
Platysomiformes Aldinger 1937
* Order †
Dorypteriformes Cope 1871
* Order †
Eurynotiformes Sallan & Coates 2013
* Class
Cladistia
Cladistia is a clade of bony fishes whose only living members are the bichirs. Their major synapomorphies are a heterocercal tail in which the dorsal fin has independent rays, and a posteriorly elongated parasphenoid.
Cladistia are the earlies ...
Pander 1860
** Order †
Guildayichthyiformes
Guildayichthyidae is a prehistoric family of marine fish from the Mississippian Bear Gulch Limestone of Montana. It is the only family in the order Guildayichthyiformes. Guildayichthyids possess an uncommon mixture of primitive and modern chara ...
Lund 2000
** Order
Polypteriformes
Bichirs and the reedfish comprise Polypteridae , a family of archaic ray-finned fishes and the only family in the order Polypteriformes .Helfman GS, Collette BB, Facey DE, Bowen BW. 2009. The Diversity of Fishes. West Sussex, UK: Blackwell Pu ...
Bleeker 1859 (
bichir
Bichirs and the reedfish comprise Polypteridae , a family of archaic ray-finned fishes and the only family in the order Polypteriformes .Helfman GS, Collette BB, Facey DE, Bowen BW. 2009. The Diversity of Fishes. West Sussex, UK: Blackwell P ...
s and
reedfish
The reedfish, ropefish (more commonly used in the United States), or snakefish, ''Erpetoichthys calabaricus'', is a species of fish in the bichir family and order. It is the only member of the genus ''Erpetoichthys''. It is native to fresh and ...
es)
* Class
Actinopteri
Actinopteri is the sister group of Cladistia in the class Actinopterygii (ray-finned fish).
Dating back to the Permian period, the Actinopteri comprise the Chondrostei (sturgeons and paddlefish) and the Neopterygii (bowfin, gars, and teleosts) ...
Cope 1972 s.s.
** Order †
Elonichthyiformes Kazantseva-Selezneva 1977
** Order †
Phanerorhynchiformes
** Order †
Bobasatraniiformes
Bobasatraniiformes is an extinct order of durophagous ray-finned fish that existed from the late Permian to the Middle Triassic in both marine and freshwater environments. The order includes two families: Bobasatraniidae, with the genera ''B ...
Berg 1940
** Order †
Saurichthyiformes Aldinger 1937
** Subclass
Chondrostei
Chondrostei is a group of non- neopterygian ray-finned fish, while the term originally referred to a paraphyletic group of all non-neopterygian ray-finned fish, it was redefined by Patterson in 1982 to be a clade comprising the Acipenseriformes ( ...
Müller, 1844
*** Order †
Birgeriiformes Heyler 1969
*** Order †
Chondrosteiformes Aldinger, 1937
*** Order
Acipenseriformes
Acipenseriformes is an order of basal ray-finned fishes that includes living and fossil sturgeons and paddlefishes (Acipenseroidei), as well as the extinct families Chondrosteidae and Peipiaosteidae. They are the second earliest diver ...
Berg 1940 (includes
sturgeons and
paddlefish
Paddlefish (family Polyodontidae) are a family of ray-finned fish belonging to order Acipenseriformes, and one of two living groups of the order alongside sturgeons (Acipenseridae). They are distinguished from other fish by their titular elong ...
es)
** Subclass
Neopterygii Regan 1923 sensu Xu & Wu 2012
*** Order †
Pholidopleuriformes
Pholidopleuriformes is an extinct order of ray-finned fish.
Classification
** Family †Pholidopleuridae Abel 1919/Wade 1932
*** Genus †'' Gracilignathichthys'' Bürgin 1992
**** †'' Gracilignathichthys microlepis'' Bürgin 1992
*** Genus � ...
Berg 1937
***Order †
Redfieldiiformes
Redfieldiiformes is an extinct order of ray-finned fish (actinopterygians) which lived from the Middle Triassic to Early Jurassic. Redfieldiiforms were fairly typical Triassic fish in overall anatomy. They had a fusiform (streamlined, tuna-like) ...
Berg 1940
***Order †
Platysiagiformes Brough 1939
***Order †
Polzbergiiformes Griffith 1977
***Order †
Perleidiformes
Perleidiformes are an extinct order of prehistoric ray-finned fish from the Triassic period Although numerous Triassic taxa have been referred to Perleidiformes, which ones should be included for it to form a monophyletic group is a matter of on ...
Berg 1937
***Order †
Louwoichthyiformes Xu 2021
*** Order †
Peltopleuriformes
Peltopleuriformes is an extinct order of ray-finned fish.
Classification
* Order †Peltopleuriformes Lehman 1966 eltopleuroidei Lehman 1966ref name="mikko">
** Family † Peltopleuridae Bough 1939
*** Genus †'' Marcopoloichthys'' Tintori et ...
Lehman 1966
*** Order †
Luganoiiformes
''Luganoia'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish that lived during the early Ladinian stage of the Middle Triassic epoch.
See also
* Prehistoric fish
* List of prehistoric bony fish
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lis ...
Lehman 1958
*** Order †
Pycnodontiformes
Pycnodontiformes is an extinct order of primarily marine bony fish. The group first appeared during the Late Triassic and disappeared during the Eocene. The group has been found in rock formations in Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America ...
Berg 1937
*** Infraclass
Holostei Müller 1844
**** Division
Halecomorphi Cope 1872 sensu Grande & Bemis 1998
***** Order †
Parasemionotiformes Lehman 1966
***** Order †
Ionoscopiformes Grande & Bemis 1998
***** Order
Amiiformes
The Amiiformes order of fish has only one extant species, the bowfin (''Amia calva''). These Amiiformes are found in the freshwater systems of North America, in the United States and parts of southern Canada. They live in freshwater streams, ri ...
Huxley 1861 sensu Grande & Bemis 1998 (
bowfin
The bowfin (''Amia calva'') is a bony fish, native to North America. Common names include mudfish, mud pike, dogfish, grindle, grinnel, swamp trout, and choupique. It is regarded as a relict, being the sole surviving species of the Halecomorphi ...
s)
**** Division
Ginglymodi
Ginglymodi is a clade of ray-finned fish containing modern-day gars (Lepisosteidae) and their extinct relatives, including the family Lepidotidae and the orders Semionotiformes and Kyphosichthyiformes, and various other extinct taxa. Ginglymo ...
Cope 1871
***** Order †
Dapediiformes Thies & Waschkewitz 2015
***** Order †
Semionotiformes
Semionotiformes is an order of primitive, ray-finned, primarily freshwater fish from the Middle Triassic (Anisian) to the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian). The best-known genus is '' Semionotus'' of Europe and North America. Their closest living ...
Arambourg & Bertin 1958
***** Order
Lepisosteiformes Hay 1929 (
gar
Gars are members of the family Lepisosteidae, which are the only surviving members of the Ginglymodi, an ancient holosteian group of ray-finned fish, which first appeared during the Triassic, over 240 million years ago. Gars comprise seven livi ...
s)
*** Clade Teleosteomorpha Arratia 2000 sensu Arratia 2013
**** Order †
Prohaleciteiformes Arratia 2017
**** Division Aspidorhynchei Nelson, Grand & Wilson 2016
***** Order †
Aspidorhynchiformes
Aspidorhynchiformes (from New Latin "shield-snout forms") is an extinct order of ray-finned fish. It contains only a single family, the Aspidorhynchidae. Members of the group are noted for their elongated, conical rostrums, of varying length, for ...
Bleeker 1859
***** Order †
Pachycormiformes
Pachycormiformes is an extinct order of marine ray-finned fish known from the Early Jurassic to the end of the Cretaceous. It only includes a single family, Pachycormidae. They were characterized by having serrated pectoral fins (though more rec ...
Berg 1937
**** Infraclass
Teleostei
Teleostei (; Greek ''teleios'' "complete" + ''osteon'' "bone"), members of which are known as teleosts ), is, by far, the largest infraclass in the class Actinopterygii, the ray-finned fishes, containing 96% of all extant species of fish. Tele ...
Müller 1844 sensu Arratia 2013
***** Order †?
Araripichthyiformes
***** Order †?
Ligulelliiformes Taverne 2011
***** Order †?
Tselfatiiformes Nelson 1994
***** Order †
Pholidophoriformes Berg 1940
***** Order †
Dorsetichthyiformes Nelson, Grand & Wilson 2016
***** Order †
Leptolepidiformes
***** Order †
Crossognathiformes
Crossognathiformes is an extinct order of ray-finned fish that lived from the Late Jurassic to the Eocene. Its phylogenetic placement is disputed; some authors have recovered it as part of the teleost stem group, while others place it in a basal ...
Taverne 1989
***** Order †
Ichthyodectiformes Bardeck & Sprinkle 1969
***** Teleocephala de Pinna 1996 s.s.
******Megacohort Elopocephalai Patterson 1977 sensu Arratia 1999 (
Elopomorpha
The superorder Elopomorpha contains a variety of types of fishes that range from typical silvery-colored species, such as the tarpons and ladyfishes of the Elopiformes and the bonefishes of the Albuliformes, to the long and slender, smooth-bodi ...
Greenwood et al. 1966)
******* Order
Elopiformes
The Elopiformes are the order of ray-finned fish including the tarpons, tenpounders, and ladyfish, as well as a number of extinct types. They have a long fossil record, easily distinguished from other fishes by the presence of an additional se ...
Gosline 1960 (
ladyfish
The Elopidae are a family of ray-finned fish containing a single living genus '' Elops''. They are commonly known as ladyfish, skipjacks, jack-rashes, or tenpounders.
The ladyfish are a coastal-dwelling fish found throughout the tropical and sub ...
es and
tarpon
Tarpons are fish of the genus ''Megalops''. They are the only members of the family Megalopidae. Of the two species, one (''M. atlanticus'') is native to the Atlantic, and the other (''M. cyprinoides'') to the Indo-Pacific Oceans.
Species and ...
)
******* Order
Albuliformes Greenwood et al. 1966 sensu Forey et al. 1996 (bonefishes)
******* Order
Notacanthiformes
The Notacanthiformes are an order of deep-sea ray-finned fishes, consisting of the families Halosauridae and Notacanthidae (spiny eels).
The order is of relatively recent vintage; ''Fishes of the World'' (2006) lists it as the suborder Notaca ...
Goodrich 1909 (
halosaurs and
spiny eel
The name spiny eel is used to describe members of two different families of fish: the freshwater Mastacembelidae of Asia and Africa, and the marine (and generally deep sea) Notacanthidae. Both are so-named because of their eel-like shape and stur ...
s)
******* Order
Anguilliformes
Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...
Jarocki 1822 sensu Goodrich 1909 (true
eel
Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...
s)
****** Megacohort Osteoglossocephalai sensu Arratia 1999
*******Supercohort Osteoglossocephala sensu Arratia 1999 (
Osteoglossomorpha
Osteoglossomorpha is a group of bony fish in the Teleostei.
Notable members
A notable member is the arapaima (''Arapaima gigas''), the largest freshwater fish in South America and one of the largest bony fishes alive. Other notable members inc ...
Greenwood et al. 1966)
******** Order †
Lycopteriformes Chang & Chou 1977
******** Order
Hiodontiformes
Hiodontiformes is an order of ray-finned fish consisting of the two living species of the mooneye family, Hiodontidae, and three extinct genera.
These are traditionally classified within the order Osteoglossiformes, a placement some author ...
McAllister 1968 sensu Taverne 1979 (
mooneye
Hiodontidae, commonly called mooneyes, is a family of ray-finned fish with a single included genus ''Hiodon''. The genus comprise two living species native to North America and three to five extinct species recorded from Paleocene to Eocene age ...
and
goldeye
The goldeye (''Hiodon alosoides'') is a freshwater fish found in Canada and the northern United States. It is one of only two extant species in the family Hiodontidae, the other species being ''Hiodon tergisus''. The species name ''alosoides'' ...
)
******** Order
Osteoglossiformes
Osteoglossiformes (Greek: "bony tongues") is a relatively primitive order of ray-finned fish that contains two sub-orders, the Osteoglossoidei and the Notopteroidei. All of at least 245 living species inhabit freshwater. They are found in Sou ...
Regan 1909 sensu Zhang 2004 (bony-tongued fishes)
******* Supercohort Clupeocephala Patterson & Rosen 1977 sensu Arratia 2010
********Cohort Otomorpha Wiley & Johnson 2010 (
Otocephala
Otocephala is a clade of ray-finned fishes within the infraclass Teleostei that evolved some 230 million years ago. It is named for the presence of a hearing (otophysic) link from the swimbladder to the inner ear. Other names proposed for the gr ...
; Ostarioclupeomorpha)
********* Subcohort Clupei Wiley & Johnson 2010 (
Clupeomorpha Greenwood et al. 1966)
********** Order †
Ellimmichthyiformes Grande 1982
********** Order
Clupeiformes
Clupeiformes is the order of ray-finned fish that includes the herring family, Clupeidae, and the anchovy family, Engraulidae. The group includes many of the most important forage and food fish.
Clupeiformes are physostomes, which means that t ...
Bleeker 1859 (
herring
Herring are forage fish, mostly belonging to the family of Clupeidae.
Herring often move in large schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans, ...
s and
anchovies
An anchovy is a small, common forage fish of the family Engraulidae. Most species are found in marine waters, but several will enter brackish water, and some in South America are restricted to fresh water.
More than 140 species are placed in 1 ...
)
********* Subcohort Alepocephali
********** Order
Alepocephaliformes Marshall 1962
********* Subcohort
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 ...
Sagemehl 1885
********** Section Anotophysa (Rosen & Greenwood 1970) Sagemehl 1885
*********** Order †
Sorbininardiformes Taverne 1999
*********** Order
Gonorynchiformes
The Gonorynchiformes are an order of ray-finned fish that includes the important food source, the milkfish (''Chanos chanos'', family Chanidae), and a number of lesser-known types, both marine and freshwater.
The alternate spelling "Gonorhy ...
Regan 1909 (
milkfishes)
********** Section Otophysa Garstang 1931
*********** Order
Cypriniformes
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 famil ...
Bleeker 1859 sensu Goodrich 1909 (
barbs,
carp,
danios
''Danio'' is a genus of small freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae found in South and Southeast Asia, commonly kept in aquaria. They are generally characterised by a pattern of horizontal stripes, rows of spots or vertical bars. Some species ...
,
goldfishes,
loaches
Loaches are fish of the superfamily Cobitoidea. They are freshwater, benthic (bottom-dwelling) fish found in rivers and creeks throughout Eurasia and northern Africa. Loaches are among the most diverse groups of fish; the 1249 known species of C ...
,
minnows,
rasbora
''Rasbora'' is a genus of fish in the family Cyprinidae. They are native to freshwater habitats in South and akistan s_...
s)
***********_Order_Characiformes.html" ;"title="outheast Asia, as well as southeast China. A single species, ''R. gerlachi'', is only known from an old Zoological specimen">s ...
s)
*********** Order Characiformes">outheast Asia, as well as southeast China. A single species, ''R. gerlachi'', is only known from an old Zoological specimen">s ...