Cladistia is a

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

bony fishes 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 cartilage ...

whose only living members are the bichirs. Their major

synapomorphies In phylogenetics, an apomorphy (or derived trait) is a novel character or character state that has evolved from its ancestral form (or plesiomorphy). A synapomorphy is an apomorphy shared by two or more taxa and is therefore hypothesized to have ...

are a heterocercal tail in which the dorsal fin has independent rays, and a posteriorly elongated

parasphenoid The parasphenoid is a bone which can be found in the cranium of many vertebrates. It is an unpaired dermal bone which lies at the midline of the roof of the mouth. In many reptiles (including birds), it fuses to the endochondral (cartilage-derived) ...

. Cladistia are the earliest diverging branch of living

Actinopterygii 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 h ...

, sister group of Actinopteri, the group which includes all other living ray finned fish. Aside from bichirs, other extinct fish groups thought to be members of the group include the Scanilepiformes, known from the Triassic period.

Taxonomy

Based on work done by

Lund Lund (, , ) is a city in the southern Swedish provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, across the Øresund, Öresund strait from Copenhagen. The town had 91,940 inhabitants out of a municipal total of 121,510 . It is the seat of Lund Municipali ...

2000 * 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 charac ...

Lund 2000 ** Family †

Guildayichthyidae 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 charac ...

Lund 2000 *** Genus †'' Guildayichthys'' Lund 2000 **** Species †'' Guildayichthys carnegiei'' Lund 2000 *** Genus †'' Discoserra'' Lund 2000 **** Species †'' Discoserra pectinodon'' Lund 2000 * Order Polypteriformes Bleeker 1859 ** Genus †'' Latinopollia'' Meunier and Gayet 1998 *** Species †'' Latinopollia suarezi'' (Meunier & Gayet 1996) Meunier & Gayet 1998 ** Genus †'' Dagetella'' Gayet & Meunier 1991 *** Species †'' Dagetella sudamericana'' Gayet & Meunier 1991 ** Genus †'' Bartschichthys'' Gayet & Meunier 1996 'Bartschia'' Gayet & Meunier 1996 non Rehder 1943*** Species †'' B. arnoulti'' (Gayet & Meunier 1996) 'Bartschia arnoulti'' Gayet & Meunier 1996">Bartschia_arnoulti.html" ;"title="' 'Bartschia arnoulti'' Gayet & Meunier 1996*** Species †''Bartschichthys napatensis">B. napatensis'' Werner & Gayet 1997 *** Species †''Bartschichthys tubularis">B. tubularis'' (Gayet & Meunier 1996) [''Bartschia tubularis'' Gayet & Meunier 1996] ** Genus †''Sudania'' Werner & Gayet 1997 *** Species †''Sudania gracilis, S. gracilis'' Werner & Gayet 1997 *** Species †'' S. oblonga'' Werner & Gayet 1997 ** Genus †'' Saharichthys'' Werner & Gayet 1997 *** Species †'' S. nigeriensis'' (Gayet & Meunier 1996) 'Sainthilairia nigeriensis'' Gayet & Meunier 1996">Sainthilairia_nigeriensis.html" ;"title="'Sainthilairia nigeriensis">'Sainthilairia nigeriensis'' Gayet & Meunier 1996*** Species †''Saharichthys africanus">S. africanus'' (Gayet & Meunier 1996) [''Sainthilairia africana'' Gayet & Meunier 1996] ** Genus †''Sainthilairia'' Gayet & Meunier 1996 *** Species †''S. beccussiformis'' Gayet & Meunier 1996 *** Species †''S. elongata'' Werner & Gayet 1997 *** Species †''S. falciformis'' Gayet & Meunier 1996 *** Species †''S. grandis'' Gayet & Meunier 1996 *** Species †''S. intermedia'' Werner & Gayet 1997 ** Genus †'' Inbecetemia'' Werner & Gayet 1997 *** Species †'' I. torta'' (Gayet & Meunier 1996) 'Sainthilairia torta'' Gayet & Meunier 1996">Sainthilairia_torta.html" ;"title="'Sainthilairia torta">'Sainthilairia torta'' Gayet & Meunier 1996*** Species †''Inbecetemia tortissima">I. tortissima'' (Gayet & Meunier 1996) [''Sainthilairia tortissima'' Gayet & Meunier 1996] ** Genus †''Nagaia'' Werner & Gayet 1997 *** Species †''Nagaia extrema'' Werner & Gayet 1997 ** Family Polypteridae Lacépède 1803 sensu stricto *** Genus †''

Bawitius ''Bawitius'' is an extinct genus of giant polypterid from the Upper Cretaceous (lower Cenomanian) Bahariya Formation of Egypt. The type species is ''B. bartheli'', named as a species of ''Polypterus'' in 1984, and the genus etymology comes from ...

'' Grandstaff et al. 2012 **** Species †''

Bawitius bartheli ''Bawitius'' is an extinct genus of giant polypterid from the Upper Cretaceous (lower Cenomanian) Bahariya Formation of Egypt. The type species is ''B. bartheli'', named as a species of ''Polypterus'' in 1984, and the genus etymology comes from ...

'' (Schaal 1984) Grandstaff et al. 2012 'Polypterus bartheli'' Schaal 1984">Polypterus_bartheli.html" ;"title="'Polypterus bartheli">'Polypterus bartheli'' Schaal 1984*** Genus †''Serenoichthys'' Dutheil 1999 **** Species †''Serenoichthys kemkemensis'' Dutheil 1999 *** Genus ''Erpetoichthys'' Smith 1865 [''Calamoichthys'' Smith 1866] **** Species ''

Erpetoichthys calabaricus 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 ...

'' *** Genus '' Polypterus'' Lacepède 1803 **** Species ''

Polypterus ansorgii The Guinean bichir (''Polypterus ansorgii'') is a ray-finned fish from rivers and other freshwater habitats in Western Africa, ranging from Guinea-Bissau to Nigeria. It reaches a maximum length of , is greenish-brown to black in color, and has la ...

Boulenger Boulenger is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Benjamin Boulenger (born 1990), French footballer * Edward George Boulenger (1888–1946), British zoologist, director of aquarium at London Zoo * George Albert Boulenger (1858–1 ...

, 1910 **** Species '' Polypterus bichir''

Lacépède Lacepede can refer to: * Bernard Germain de Lacépède (1756–1825), French naturalist and politician. * Lacepede Bay, a bay in South Australia. * Lacépède, Lot-et-Garonne, a ''commune'' in France * Lacepede Islands, a group of four islands in t ...

, 1803 **** Species ''

Polypterus congicus ''Polypterus congicus'', the Congo bichir, is a species of bichir with a maximum recorded size of . The colour also varies from yellowish brown to grey, darker in the top, paler in the ventral area. It has a pattern of around 8 irregular vertical ...

, 1898 **** Species '' Polypterus delhezi''

, 1899 **** Species '' Polypterus endlicheri'' Heckel, 1847 **** Species '' Polypterus mokelembembe'' Schliewen &

Schäfer Schaefer is an alternative spelling and cognate for the German language, German word Wikt:Schäfer, ''schäfer'', meaning Wikt:shepherd, 'shepherd', which itself descends from the Old High German ''Wikt:scāphare, scāphare''. Variants "Shaefer", " ...

, 2006 **** Species ''

Polypterus ornatipinnis ''Polypterus ornatipinnis'', the ornate bichir, is a bony fish found in Lake Tanganyika and the Congo River basin in Central and East Africa. Description ''P. ornatipinnis'' has black and yellow patterning on its body, head, and fins, with 9 to ...

, 1902 **** Species ''

Polypterus palmas ''Polypterus palmas'', also called the shortfin or marbled bichir, is a fish in the family Polypteridae found in freshwater environments throughout West Africa. Distribution ''P. palmas'' has a wide range; it can be found in freshwater environm ...

'' Ayres, 1850 **** Species ''

Polypterus polli ''Polypterus polli'', Poll's bichir, is a species of bichir from the Malebo Pool and the lower and central basins of the Congo River The Congo River ( kg, Nzâdi Kôngo, french: Fleuve Congo, pt, Rio Congo), formerly also known as the Zaire ...

'' J. P. Gosse, 1988 **** Species ''

Polypterus retropinnis The West African bichir or retropinnis bichir (''Polypterus retropinnis''), is a freshwater fish in the family Polypteridae, is found in the central Congo River basin and Ogooué River in Africa. It is a long, slender fish that grows to a ma ...

'' Vaillant, 1899 **** Species '' Polypterus senegalus''

Cuvier Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, Baron Cuvier (; 23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier, was a French naturalist and zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuvier was a major figure in nat ...

, 1829 **** Species ''

Polypterus teugelsi ''Polypterus teugelsi'' (Teugelsi bichir) is a species of carnivorous, nocturnal bichir (a group of ray-finned fishes) that lives in the Cross River drainage basin in the country of Cameroon. ''P. teugelsi'' was described in 2004 by Ralf Britz ...

'' Britz, 2004 **** Species ''

Polypterus weeksii ''Polypterus weeksii'', the mottled bichir, is a fish in the family Polypteridae found in the central basin of the Congo River. It grows to about 54 cm in head-to-tail length. Named in honor of John Henry Weeks (1861-1924), Baptist missio ...

, 1898

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q144462 Ray-finned fish taxonomy Vertebrate subclasses