Otocephala 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 ter ...

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 h ...

es within the 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. Te ...

that evolved some 230 million years ago. It is named for the presence of a hearing (otophysic) link from the

swimbladder The swim bladder, gas bladder, fish maw, or air bladder is an internal gas-filled organ that contributes to the ability of many bony fish (but not cartilaginous fish) to control their buoyancy, and thus to stay at their current water depth wit ...

to the

inner ear The inner ear (internal ear, auris interna) is the innermost part of the vertebrate ear. In vertebrates, the inner ear is mainly responsible for sound detection and balance. In mammals, it consists of the bony labyrinth, a hollow cavity in th ...

. Other names proposed for the group include Ostarioclupeomorpha and Otomorpha. The clade contains

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 ...

(herrings) and Ostariophysi, a group of other orders including

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 ...

(minnows and allies),

Gymnotiformes The Gymnotiformes are an order of teleost bony fishes commonly known as Neotropical knifefish or South American knifefish. They have long bodies and swim using undulations of their elongated anal fin. Found almost exclusively in fresh water (t ...

(knifefish), and

Siluriformes Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive, ...

(catfish). Otocephala may also contain Alepocephaliformes (slickheads), but as yet (2016) without morphological evidence. The clade is sister to

Euteleostei Euteleostei, whose members are known as euteleosts, is a clade of bony fishes within Teleostei that evolved some 240 million years ago. It is divided into Protacanthopterygii (including the salmon and dragonfish) and Neoteleostei (including th ...

which contains the majority of bony fish alive today. In 2015, Benton and colleagues set a "plausible minimum" date for the origin of

crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

Otocephala as about 228.4 million years ago. They argued that since the oldest locality for any diversity of stem teleosts is the

Carnian The Carnian (less commonly, Karnian) is the lowermost stage (stratigraphy), stage of the Upper Triassic series (stratigraphy), Series (or earliest age (geology), age of the Late Triassic Epoch (reference date), Epoch). It lasted from 237 to 227 m ...

of Polberg bei Lunz, Austria, whose base is 235 million years old, a rough estimate for Otocephala can be made.

Taxonomy

Taxonomy based on: * Cohort Otocephala Johnson & Patterson 1996 tomorpha Wiley & Johnson 2010; Ostarioclupeomorpha Arratia 1997** Genus †'' Kermichthys'' Taverne 1993 ** Family † Lycoclupeidae Gowda 1968 ** Family † Clupavidae Bertin & Arambourg 1958 ** Subcohort Clupei Wiley & Johnson 2010 lupeomorpha Greenwood et al. 1966*** Order † Ellimmichthyiformes Grande 1982 *** Order

Bleeker 1859 ** Subcohort Alepocephali *** Order Alepocephaliformes Marshall 1962 ** Subcohort Ostariophysi Sagemehl 1885 *** Genus †'' Tischlingerichthys'' Arratia 1997 *** Family † Ancylostylidae Jordan 1923 *** Family † Erythrinolepididae Cockerell 1919 corrig. *** Section Anotophysa (Rosen & Greenwood 1970) Sagemehl 1885 notophysi Rosen & Greenwood 1970**** 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 *** Section Otophysa (Rosen & Greenwood 1970) Sagemehl 1885 tophysi Rosen & Greenwood 1970**** Genus †'' Nardonoides'' Mayrinck, Brito & Otero 2014 **** Family † Chanoididae Taverne 2005 **** Family † Salminopsidae Gayet 1985 **** Superorder Cypriniphysae ypriniphysi Woodward 1901***** Order

Bleeker 1859 sensu Goodrich 1909 **** Superorder Characiphysae (Fink & Fink 1981) ***** Order

Characiformes Characiformes is an order of ray-finned fish, comprising the characins and their allies. Grouped in 18 recognized families, more than 2000 different species are described, including the well-known piranha and tetras.; Buckup P.A.: "Relationsh ...

Goodrich 1909 **** Superorder Siluriphysae iluriphysi***** Order

Berg 1940 (Neotropical knifefishes) ***** Order

Cuvier 1817 sensu Hay 1929 (catfishes)

Phylogeny

Phylogeny of living groups based on:

References

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q22107399 Cohorts