Osteichthyan

Osteichthyes ( ; from Ancient Greek ὀστέον (ostéon) 'bone' and ἰχθύς (ikhthús) 'fish'), also known as osteichthyans or commonly referred to as the bony fish, is a diverseclade of vertebrateanimals that have endoskeletons primarily composed of bone tissue, encompassing both the conventional bony fishes and, in a cladistic sense, all tetrapods, including mammals and reptiles. They can be contrasted with the Chondrichthyes (cartilaginous fish) and the extinctplacoderms and acanthodians, which have endoskeletons primarily composed of cartilage. The vast majority of extantfish are members of Osteichthyes, being an extremely diverse and abundant group consisting of 45 orders, over 435 families and 28,000 species.