Stomiiformes is an

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of ...

deep-sea The deep sea is broadly defined as the ocean depth where light begins to fade, at an approximate depth of 200 metres (656 feet) or the point of transition from continental shelves to continental slopes. Conditions within the deep sea are a combin ...

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 of very diverse morphology. It includes, for example, dragonfishes, lightfishes (

Gonostomatidae The Gonostomatidae are a family of mesopelagic marine fish, commonly named bristlemouths, lightfishes, or anglemouths. It is a relatively small family, containing only eight known genera and 32 species. However, bristlemouths make up for thei ...

and

Phosichthyidae Lightfishes are small stomiiform fishes in the family Phosichthyidae The earliest fossils of lightfishes are from Oligocene-aged Paratethyan marine strata in the Czech Republic. They are very small fishes found in oceans throughout the world: ...

), loosejaws, marine hatchetfishes and

viperfish A viperfish is any species of marine fish in the genus ''Chauliodus''. Viperfishes are mostly found in the mesopelagic zone and are characterized by long, needle-like teeth and hinged lower jaws. A typical viperfish grows to lengths of . Viperf ...

es. The order contains 4 families (5 according to some authors) with more than 50

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

and at least 410

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of 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 appropriat ...

. As usual for

fishes, there are few common names for species of the order, but the Stomiiformes as a whole are often called dragonfishes and allies or simply stomiiforms. The

scientific name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bo ...

means "''Stomias''-shaped", from '' Stomias'' (the

type genus In biological taxonomy, the type genus is the genus which defines a biological family and the root of the family name. Zoological nomenclature According to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, "The name-bearing type of a nominal ...

) + the standard

fish Fish are Aquatic animal, aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack Limb (anatomy), limbs with Digit (anatomy), digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and Chondrichthyes, cartilaginous and bony fish as we ...

order

suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carr ...

"-formes". It ultimately derives from

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic pe ...

''stóma'' (στόμᾶ, "mouth") +

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

''forma'' ("external form"), the former in reference to the huge mouth opening of these fishes.

Description and ecology

Members of this order are mostly

pelagic The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean, and can be further divided into regions by depth (as illustrated on the right). The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or w ...

fishes living in deep oceanic waters. Their distribution around the world's oceans is very wide, ranging from

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical and climate zones to the north and south of the tropics. Geographically part of the temperate zones of both hemispheres, they cover the middle latitudes from to approximately 35° north a ...

and

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout ...

waters up to

subarctic The subarctic zone is a region in the Northern Hemisphere immediately south of the true Arctic, north of humid continental regions and covering much of Alaska, Canada, Iceland, the north of Scandinavia, Siberia, and the Cairngorms. Genera ...

or even

Antarctic The Antarctic ( or , American English also or ; commonly ) is a polar region around Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica, the Kerguelen Plateau and othe ...

ones. FishBase (2005), Nelson (2006): p.207 Messina Straits Chauliodus sloani

The smallest species of this order is the bristlemouth '' Cyclothone pygmaeae''. Native to the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...

, it reaches just 1.5 cm (0.6 in) as an adult. The largest species is the

barbeled dragonfish Stomiidae is a family of deep-sea ray-finned fish, including the barbeled dragonfishes. They are quite small, usually around 15 cm, up to 26 cm. These fish are apex predators and have enormous jaws filled with fang-like teeth. They ar ...

'' Opostomias micripnis'', widely found in the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

and

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the conti ...

s and measuring about in adult length. These fish have a highly unusual and often almost nightmarish appearance. They all have teeth on the

premaxilla The premaxilla (or praemaxilla) is one of a pair of small cranial bones at the very tip of the upper jaw of many animals, usually, but not always, bearing teeth. In humans, they are fused with the maxilla. The "premaxilla" of therian mammal has ...

and

maxilla The maxilla (plural: ''maxillae'' ) in vertebrates is the upper fixed (not fixed in Neopterygii) bone of the jaw formed from the fusion of two maxillary bones. In humans, the upper jaw includes the hard palate in the front of the mouth. T ...

. Their maxillary

ligament A ligament is the fibrous connective tissue that connects bones to other bones. It is also known as ''articular ligament'', ''articular larua'', ''fibrous ligament'', or ''true ligament''. Other ligaments in the body include the: * Peritoneal l ...

s, as well as some muscles and certain bones in the branchial cavity, are specialized in a distinctive way. Most have large mouths extending back past the eyes. Some also have a chin

barbel Barbel may refer to: *Barbel (anatomy), a whisker-like organ near the mouth found in some fish (notably catfish, loaches and cyprinids) and turtles *Barbel (fish), a common name for certain species of fish **''Barbus barbus'', a species of cyprinid ...

. The

dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage * Dorsal c ...

and/or

pectoral fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

s are missing in some, but others have an

adipose fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

. The

pelvic fin Pelvic fins or ventral fins are paired fins located on the ventral surface of fish. The paired pelvic fins are homologous to the hindlimbs of tetrapods. Structure and function Structure In actinopterygians, the pelvic fin consists of two ...

has 4-9

rays Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (gra ...

, and the stomiiformes possess 5-24

branchiostegal ray This glossary of ichthyology is a list of definitions of terms and concepts used in ichthyology, the study of fishes. A B C ...

s. Their scales are

cycloid In geometry, a cycloid is the curve traced by a point on a circle as it rolls along a straight line without slipping. A cycloid is a specific form of trochoid and is an example of a roulette, a curve generated by a curve rolling on another cu ...

, delicate and easily sloughed off; some are scaleless. The coloration is typically dark brown or black; a few (mostly Gonostomatoidei) are silver, and

photophore A photophore is a glandular organ that appears as luminous spots on various marine animals, including fish and cephalopods. The organ can be simple, or as complex as the human eye; equipped with lenses, shutters, color filters and reflectors, ...

s (light-producing organs) are common in this order. The teeth of stomiiformes are often transparent and non-reflective so that prey will be unlikely to see them in the light generated by bioluminescence. Research has revealed that the transparency of the teeth of ''

Aristostomias scintillans ''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 c ...

'' is due to nanoscale structures composed

hydroxyapatite Hydroxyapatite, also called hydroxylapatite (HA), is a naturally occurring mineral form of calcium apatite with the formula Ca5(PO4)3(OH), but it is usually written Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2 to denote that the crystal unit cell comprises two entities. ...

and

collagen Collagen () is the main structural protein in the extracellular matrix found in the body's various connective tissues. As the main component of connective tissue, it is the most abundant protein in mammals, making up from 25% to 35% of the whol ...

and a lack dentin tubules, however a study from a decade prior had shown the teeth of ''

Chauliodus sloani Sloane's viperfish, ''Chauliodus sloani'', is a predatory mesopelagic dragonfish found in waters across the world. The species was first described by German scientists Marcus Elieser Bloch and Johann Gottlob Schneider in their 1801 book ''Systema ...

'' (which are also transparent) have dentin tubules. The reason behind difference in presence of dentin tubules in two species of the same family (Stomiidae) has yet to be addressed.

Bioluminescence

Messina Straits Argyropelecus hemigymnus

As common for

creatures, all members of Stomiiformes (except one) have

s, whose structure is characteristic of the order. The light emitted can be more or less strong and its color can be light yellow, white, violet or red. The light coming from these fish is generally invisible to their prey. The lighting mechanism can be very simple – consisting of small gleaming points on the fish body – or very elaborate, involving

lens A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements ...

es and refractors. The most common arrangement is one or two rows of photophores on the ventral aspect of the body. The rows run from the head down to the tip of the tail. Photophores are also present in chin barbels of the family

Stomiidae Stomiidae is a family of deep-sea ray-finned fish, including the barbeled dragonfishes. They are quite small, usually around 15 cm, up to 26 cm. These fish are apex predators and have enormous jaws filled with fang-like teeth. They are ...

. The light produced in these glandular organs is the product of an enzymatic reaction, a catylization of

coelenterazine Coelenterazine is a luciferin, a molecule that emits light after reaction with oxygen, found in many aquatic organisms across eight phyla. It is the substrate of many luciferases such as '' Renilla reniformis'' luciferase (Rluc), ''Gaussia'' lucif ...

by calcium ions.

Daily migration

During the day, Stomiiformes stay in deep waters. When the sun sets, most of them follow the dimming sunlight up to near-surface waters, which are richer in animal life such as small fishes and

plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms found in water (or air) that are unable to propel themselves against a current (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankters. In the ocean, they provide a cruc ...

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chorda ...

s. During the night, these Stomiiformes hunt and feed on such organisms, swimming back to deeper waters when the sun rises. They apparently are able to measure the intensity of the sunlight that reaches them. They will thus move to stay always in the zone where light intensity is very low, though it is not entirely dark. This daily migration is well observed in quite a few species of stomiiforms. However, it is also performed by other fishes, while some larger Stomiiformes – among them the largest

predator Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill t ...

s of the deep sea – stay in their

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

all the time and feed on smaller migrating fish that return from the surface.

Reproduction

Stomiiforms

spawn Spawn or spawning may refer to: * Spawn (biology), the eggs and sperm of aquatic animals Arts, entertainment, and media * Spawn (character), a fictional character in the comic series of the same name and in the associated franchise ** '' Spawn: A ...

generally in deep seas, but the eggs are light and float towards the ocean surface. They hatch in surface waters. When the

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. ...

e have completed their

metamorphosis Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops including birth or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and differentiation. Some inse ...

and look like adults, they descend to join the main population. Like many

benthic The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from ancient Greek, βένθος (bénthos), meaning " ...

fish species, certain members of the order – especially in the genera ''

Cyclothone ''Cyclothone'' is a genus containing 13 extant species of bioluminescent fish, commonly known as 'bristlemouths' or 'bristlefishes' due to their shared characteristic of sharp, bristle-like teeth. These fishes typically grow to around 1-3 inches ...

'' and ''

Gonostoma ''Gonostoma'' is a genus of bristlemouths. Species There are three extant species recognized in this genus: * '' Gonostoma atlanticum'' Norman, 1930 (Atlantic fangjaw) * '' Gonostoma denudatum'' Rafinesque, 1810 * '' Gonostoma elongatum'' Günt ...

'' – change their sex during their life. When they become

sexually mature Sexual maturity is the capability of an organism to reproduce. In humans it might be considered synonymous with adulthood, but here puberty is the name for the process of biological sexual maturation, while adulthood is based on cultural definiti ...

, they are males; later on they transform into females.

Systematics

The Stomiiformes are often placed in the

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. Tele ...

superorder Order ( la, ordo) is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and ...

Stenopterygii Stenopterygii are a superorder of ray-finned fish in the infraclass Teleostei. Their validity is somewhat doubtful, as the group was established to separate, out of a large group of closely related Teleostei, a mere two rather peculiarly autapo ...

, usually together with the Ateleopodiformes (jellynoses), but sometimes on their own. Whether it is indeed justified to accept such a small group is doubtful; it may well be that the closest living relatives of the "Stenopterygii" are found among the superorder

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 roug ...

, and that the former would need to be merged in the latter. In some classifications, the "Stenopterygii" are kept separate but included with the Protacanthopterygii and the

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

superorder Cyclosquamata in an unranked

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 ...

called Euteleostei. That would probably require splitting two additional monotypic superorders out of the Protacanthopterygii, and thus result in a profusion of very small

taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...

The Stomiiformes have also been considered close relatives of the

Aulopiformes Aulopiformes is a diverse order of marine ray-finned fish consisting of some 15 extant and several prehistoric families with about 45 genera and over 230 species. The common names grinners, lizardfishes and allies, or aulopiforms are sometime ...

. The latter are otherwise placed in a monotypic superorder "Cyclosquamata" but also appear to be quite close to the Protacanthopterygii indeed. The relationships of these – and the

Lampriformes Lampriformes is an order of ray-finned fish. Members are collectively called lamprids (which is more properly used for the Lampridae) or lampriforms, and unite such open-ocean and partially deep-sea Teleostei as the crestfishes, oarfish, opah ...

Myctophiformes The Myctophiformes are an order of ray-finned fishes consisting of two families of deep-sea marine fish, most notably the highly abundant lanternfishes (Myctophidae). The blackchins (Neoscopelidae) contain six species in three genera, while t ...

, which are also usually treated as monotypic superorders – to the taxa mentioned before is still not well resolved at all, and regardless whether one calls them Protacanthopterygii ''

sensu lato ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular c ...

'' or Euteleostei, the

phylogeny A phylogenetic tree (also phylogeny or evolutionary tree Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, MA.) is a branching diagram or a tree showing the evolutionary relationships among various biological s ...

of this group of moderately-advanced Teleostei is in need of further study.FishBase (2005), Diogo (2008) The ancestral Stomiiformes probably had thin brownish bodies, rows of egg-shaped

s adorning the lower body parts, and mouths with numerous teeth. From these, two lineages

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 ...

, probably some time during the

Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', ...

: Among the modern Stomiiformes, the

and

are

phenetic In biology, phenetics ( el, phainein – to appear) , also known as taximetrics, is an attempt to classify organisms based on overall similarity, usually in morphology or other observable traits, regardless of their phylogeny or evolutionary re ...

ally very similar, but this is due to their being very

plesiomorph In phylogenetics, a plesiomorphy ("near form") and symplesiomorphy are synonyms for an ancestral character shared by all members of a clade, which does not distinguish the clade from other clades. Plesiomorphy, symplesiomorphy, apomorphy, ...

ic and retaining many traits of the original stomiiforms. Each of the two has characteristic

synapomorph 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 ha ...

ies with one of the more advanced stomiiform families – the

Sternoptychidae The marine hatchetfishes or deep-sea hatchetfishes as well as the related bottlelights, pearlsides and constellationfishes are small deep-sea ray-finned fish of the stomiiform family Sternoptychidae. They are not closely related to and sh ...

and the

, respectively. These two, in turn, are highly

autapomorph In phylogenetics, an autapomorphy is a distinctive feature, known as a derived trait, that is unique to a given taxon. That is, it is found only in one taxon, but not found in any others or outgroup taxa, not even those most closely related to t ...

ic, and at a casual glance do not look as if they were as closely related to the other stomiiforms as they actually are. Thus, the classification of the

suborder Order ( la, ordo) is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and ...

s and families of the Stomiiformes is: * Suborder Gonostomatoidei ** Family

– bristlemouths, anglemouths, "lightfishes" (including Diplophidae) ** Family

– marine hatchetfishes, bottlelights, constellationfishes, pearlsides * Suborder Stomioidei ** Family

– lightfishes ** Family

– barbeled dragonfishes, loosejaws, stareaters

Timeline of genera

ImageSize = width:1000px height:auto barincrement:15px PlotArea = left:10px bottom:50px top:10px right:10px Period = from:-145.5 till:20 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:NAM18 bar:NAM19 bar:NAM20 bar:NAM21 bar:NAM22 bar:NAM23 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 Early may refer to: History * The beginning or oldest part of a defined historical period, as opposed to middle or late periods, e.g.: ** Early Christianity ** Early modern Europe Places in the United States * Early, Iowa * Early, Texas * Early ...

from: -99.6 till: -65.5 color:latecretaceous text: Late 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:

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 ...

from: -65.5 till: -23.03 color:paleogene text:

Paleogene The Paleogene ( ; also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene; informally Lower Tertiary or Early Tertiary) is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning o ...

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:latecretaceous bar:NAM1 from:-99.6 till:-97.6 text: Paravinciguerria color:latecretaceous bar:NAM2 from:-99.6 till:-28.4 text: Idrissa color:eocene bar:NAM3 from:-55.8 till:0 text: Polymetme color:eocene bar:NAM4 from:-55.8 till:0 text: Valenciennellus color:eocene bar:NAM5 from:-55.8 till:0 text: Argyropelecus color:eocene bar:NAM6 from:-48.6 till:-37.2 text: Polyipnoides color:eocene bar:NAM7 from:-48.6 till:0 text: Astronesthes color:eocene bar:NAM8 from:-48.6 till:0 text: Vinciguerria color:eocene bar:NAM9 from:-37.2 till:0 text: Danaphos color:oligocene bar:NAM10 from:-33.9 till:-28.4 text: Praewoodsia color:oligocene bar:NAM11 from:-33.9 till:-28.4 text: Scopeloides color:oligocene bar:NAM12 from:-33.9 till:0 text: Polyipnus color:oligocene bar:NAM13 from:-33.9 till:0 text: Sternoptyx color:oligocene bar:NAM14 from:-28.4 till:0 text:

Argyripnus ''Argyripnus'' is an oceanic ray-finned fish genus in the marine hatchetfish family Sternoptychidae. They are commonly known as bristle-mouth fishes, but that may also refer to the related bristlemouth family (Gonostomatidae). ''A. iridescens ...

color:miocene bar:NAM15 from:-23.03 till:0 text: Polymetmeglareosus color:miocene bar:NAM16 from:-23.03 till:0 text: Maurolicus color:miocene bar:NAM17 from:-15.97 till:-11.61 text: Ohuus color:miocene bar:NAM18 from:-11.61 till:-2.59 text: Sahelinia color:miocene bar:NAM19 from:-11.61 till:0 text: Chauliodus color:miocene bar:NAM20 from:-11.61 till:0 text:

color:miocene bar:NAM21 from:-11.61 till:0 text:

color:miocene bar:NAM22 from:-11.61 till:0 text:

Ichthyococcus ''Ichthyococcus'' are a genus of lightfishes. It is one of seven genera in the family Phosichthyidae. Included species There are currently seven recognized species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonom ...

color:pliocene bar:NAM23 from:-5.33 till:0 text: Photichthys PlotData= align:center textcolor:black fontsize:M mark:(line,black) width:25 bar:period from: -145.5 till: -99.6 color:earlycretaceous 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.

Footnotes

References

* (2008): On the cephalic and pectoral girdle muscles of the deep sea fish ''Alepocephalus rostratus'', with comments on the functional morphology and phylogenetic relationships of the Alepocephaloidei (Teleostei). '' Anim. Biol.'' 58(1): 23-29. * (2005)
Order Stomiiformes
Version of 2005-FEB-15. Retrieved 2009-SEP-28. * * (1968-1982): ''

Oxford Latin Dictionary The ''Oxford Latin Dictionary'' (or ''OLD'') is the standard English lexicon of Classical Latin, compiled from sources written before AD 200. Begun in 1933, it was published in fascicles between 1968 and 1982; a lightly revised second edition ...

'' (1st ed.). Oxford University Press, Oxford. * * (2006): ''

Fishes of the World ''Fishes of the World'' by the American ichthyologist Joseph S. Nelson (1937–2011) is a standard reference for fish systematics. Now in its fifth edition (2016), the work is a comprehensive overview of the diversity and classification of the ...

'' (4th ed.). John Wiley & Sons, Inc. * * (1910): ''English-Greek Dictionary - A Vocabulary of the Attic Language''. George Routledge & Sons Ltd., Broadway House, Ludgate Hill, E.C
Searchable JPEG fulltext
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q657570 Articles which contain graphical timelines Ray-finned fish orders Bioluminescent fish Taxa named by Charles Tate Regan