Stomiati is a group of

teleost 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. Tel ...

fish belonging to the cohort (group)

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 t ...

, which is a group of bony fishes within the infra-class

Teleostei Teleostei (; Ancient Greek, Greek ''teleios'' "complete" + ''osteon'' "bone"), members of which are known as teleosts ), is, by far, the largest class (biology), infraclass in the class Actinopterygii, the ray-finned fishes, containing 96% of a ...

that evolved ~240 million years ago. Teleostei is a group of ray-finned fishes with the exception of primitive

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 Pub ...

sturgeon Sturgeon is the common name for the 27 species of fish belonging to the family Acipenseridae. The earliest sturgeon fossils date to the Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretace ...

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 elongla ...

es, freshwater garfishes, and

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. The cohort of Euteleostei is divided into two smaller groups: the

Protacanthopterygii Protacanthopterygii is a ray-finned fish taxon ranked as a superorder of the infraclass Teleostei. They inhabit both marine and freshwater habitats. They appear to have evolved in the Cretaceous or perhaps late Jurassic, originating probably rou ...

and the

Neoteleostei The Neoteleostei is a large clade of bony fish that includes the Ateleopodidae (jellynoses), Aulopiformes (lizardfish), Myctophiformes (lanternfish), Polymixiiformes (beardfish), Percopsiformes (Troutperches), Gadiformes (cods), Zeiformes (dorie ...

. Stomiati happen to be descendants of the Protacanthopterygii, and contains the order of

Osmeriformes The Osmeriformes are an order of ray-finned fish that includes the true or freshwater smelts and allies, such as the galaxiids and noodlefishes; they are also collectively called osmeriforms. They belong to the teleost superorder Protacanthopte ...

and

Stomiiformes Stomiiformes is an order of deep-sea ray-finned fishes of very diverse morphology. It includes, for example, dragonfishes, lightfishes (Gonostomatidae and Phosichthyidae), loosejaws, marine hatchetfishes and viperfishes. The order contains 4 ...

(Betancur-R, et al.). Stomiati is one of five major euteleost lineages that were recently placed in one monophyly, a group of organisms all descending from one common ancestor. The five being a clade formed by

Esociformes The Esociformes () are a small order of ray-finned fish, with two families, Umbridae and Esocidae. The pikes of genus '' Esox'' give the order its name. This order is closely related to the Salmoniformes, the two comprising the superorder Prot ...

and

Salmoniformes Salmonidae is a family of ray-finned fish that constitutes the only currently extant family in the order Salmoniformes . It includes salmon (both Atlantic and Pacific species), trout (both ocean-going and landlocked), chars, freshwater whitefis ...

; second being the Stomiatii consisting of only

and

;

Argentiniformes The Argentiniformes are an order of ray-finned fish whose distinctness was recognized only fairly recently. In former times, they were included in the Osmeriformes (typical smelt and allies) as suborder Argentinoidei. That term refers only to ...

(excludes

Alepocephaliformes Alepocephaliformes is an order of ray-finned fish. It was previously classified as the suborder Alepocephaloidei of the order Argentiniformes The Argentiniformes are an order of ray-finned fish whose distinctness was recognized only fairly ...

); Galaxiiformes (excludes '' Lepidogalaxias''); and Neotelestei. Stomiati are known for their large mouth, long throat/barbel, and no caudal filament.

Osmeriformes

Osmeriformes smelts belong to the subcohort Protacanthopterygii. Osmeriformes mainly spawn in freshwater habitats except for the osmerid (family

Osmeridae Smelts are a family of small fish, the Osmeridae, found in the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans, as well as rivers, streams and lakes in Europe, North America and Northeast Asia. They are also known as freshwater smelts or typical smelts ...

) ''

Osmerus eperlanus ''Osmerus'' is a genus of smelt. Species There are currently three recognized species in this genus: * ''Osmerus eperlanus'' (Linnaeus, 1758) (European smelt) * ''Osmerus mordax'' (Mitchill, 1814) ** ''Osmerus mordax dentex'' Steindachner & K ...

'', and one or two salangids (family

Salangidae Salangidae, the icefishes or noodlefishes, are a family of small osmeriform fish, related to the smelts. They are found in Eastern Asia, ranging from the Russian Far East in the north to Vietnam in the south, with the highest species richness in ...

). Fourteen different families comprise the order of Osmeriformes.

Stomiiformes

Stomiiformes are an order of deep sea ray-finned fishes. These fishes are known, and named, for their absurdly large mouth openings. Stomiiformes is derived from Ancient Greek meaning “mouth” + “external form” which references their large mouth openings. Four (some may claim 5) different families comprise the order of Stomiiformes.

Bioluminescence

The order of stomiiformes is linked to some of the most interesting deep sea dragonfishes. The genera of ''Malacosteus'''',

Aristostomias ''Aristostomias'' is a genus of barbeled dragonfishes native to the ocean depths in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans. Red Light Bioluminescence Production of red light bioluminescence Similar to other deep-sea organisms that are capa ...

'' and ''Pachystomias'' are the only fishes that have the ability to produce red

bioluminescence Bioluminescence is the production and emission of light by living organisms. It is a form of chemiluminescence. Bioluminescence occurs widely in marine vertebrates and invertebrates, as well as in some fungi, microorganisms including some b ...

. The species ''Malacosteus'' ''niger'' is found lurking below a depth of illuminating its red light in order pick out prey. The reason this red bioluminescent light is so interesting is the fact that below the depth of 500 meters, there are very few organisms that have the ability to perceive this wavelength. Therefore, ''M. niger'' effortlessly hunts for prey with the aid of light while its prey remains in seemingly complete darkness. Little is known about their ability to use and let alone sense light at such depths. Due to them lurking at a depth well below 500 m, they can only be observed in their natural habitat, and bringing one up to the surface alive is infeasible. The change in pressure the fish would experience would be too great and most certainly be fatal.Kenaley, C P. “Diel vertical migration of the loosejaw dragonfishes (Stomiiformes: Stomiidae: Malacosteinae): a new analysis for rare pelagic taxa.” ''Journal of Fish Biology'', vol. 73, no. 4, ser. 1095-8649, 15 Sept. 2008, pp. 888–901. ''1095-8649'', doi:10.1111/j.1095-8649.2008.01983.x.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15849341 Ray-finned fish taxonomy