Bythitoidei is a
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 ...
of the
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 ...
Ophidiiformes
Ophidiiformes is an order of ray-finned fish that includes the cusk-eels (family Ophidiidae), pearlfishes (family Carapidae), viviparous brotulas (family Bythitidae), and others. Members of this order have small heads and long slender bodies. ...
, the cusk eels. They are distinguished from the other Ophidiform suborder, the
Ophidioidei
Ophidioidei is one of two suborders in the order Ophidiiformes, the cusk eels, viviparous brotulas and pearlfishes. The main distinction from the suborder Bythitoidei is that the Ophidioidei are oviparous, other features include having a caudal ...
, by being largely
viviparous
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 ...
.
Families
The following families make up the suborder Bythitoidei:
* Family
Bythitidae
The viviparous brotulas form a family, the Bythitidae, of ophidiiform fishes. They are known as viviparous brotulas as they generally bear live young, although there are indications that some species (at least '' Didymothallus criniceps'') do n ...
Gill
A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they ar ...
, 1861 — viviparous brotulas
* Family
Aphyonidae
Aphyonidae is a family of eel-like fishes in the order Ophidiiformes. They are found in tropical and subtropical waters throughout the world. They are deep-sea fishes, living between and depth.
Description and biology
Aphyonids are small fishe ...
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Ri ...
& Evermann, 1898 —aphyonids, blind cusk-eel
* Family
Parabrotulidae Nielsen, 1968 — false brotulas
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q11153370
Ophidiiformes