Caproidae, or boarfishes, are a small family of
marine
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fishes comprising two genera and 12 species. They were formerly placed in the order
Zeiformes with the
dories, but are now placed with the
Perciformes since they have many perciform characteristics, for instance in the caudal skeleton. Boarfishes are native to the
Indian,
Atlantic, and
Pacific Oceans, where they are mainly found at depths below .
Boarfishes have deep and thin bodies. They are small, with only a few species known to reach a maximum total length of . Their coloration is red, pink, and silvery.
The earliest identified caproid
fossils date to the middle
Eocene epoch of the early
Tertiary period, or roughly 48.6 to 40 million years ago.
See also
* Some fish of the family
Pentacerotidae
Pentacerotidae or armourheads are a small family of fishes in the order Perciformes. They are native to the Indian Ocean, western and central Pacific, and southwestern Atlantic. They are generally found at rocky reefs below normal scuba diving d ...
(order Perciformes) are also called boarfish.
References
Extant Eocene first appearances
Taxa named by Charles Lucien Bonaparte
{{Perciformes-stub