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Actinopteri

(Infraclass)

Overview

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> Metazoa > Chordata > Craniata > Vertebrata > Euteleostomi > Actinopterygii > Actinopteri

Actinopteri are related to sturgeon. Dating back to the Permian period, the Actinopteri are comprise the Chondrostei (sturgeons and paddlefishes) and the Neopterygi (bowfin, gars, and teleosts). Modern actinopterygians generally feed using a suction mechanism, with the mouth parts forming a tube. Prey are drawn in, and then masticated for consumption. The Actinopterygii are the "ray-finned" fishes. The Actinopter group consists of the descendants of the most recent common ancestor of the sturgeons and teleoststains, and includes:

Photos

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Taxonomy

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The Infraclass Actinopteri is a member of the Subclass Actinopterygii. Here is the complete "parentage" of Actinopteri:

The Infraclass Actinopteri is further organized into finer groupings including:

Orders

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Acipenseriformes

Acipenseriformes are an of primitive ray-finned fishes that includes the sturgeons and paddlefishes, as well as some extinct families. [more]

Albuliformes

The bonefishes are a (Albulidae) of ray-finned fish that are popular as game fish in Florida, select locations in the South Pacific, and the Bahamas where two bonefish are on their 10 cent coin, and elsewhere. The family is small, with eight species in two genera. [more]

Amiiformes

Bowfins are an order (Amiiformes; pronounced ) of primitive . Only one species, the bowfin Amia calva, family Amiidae, survives today, although additional species in six families are known from Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Eocene fossils. The bowfin, the gar, and the sturgeons are among the few extant freshwater fish that were contemporaries of the dinosaurs. [more]

Anguilliformes

True eels (Anguilliformes; pronounced ) are an of fish, which consists of four suborders, 19 families, 110 genera and approximately 600 species. Most eels are predators. The term "eel" is also used for some other similarly shaped fish, such as electric eels and spiny eels, but these are not members of the Anguilliformes order. [more]

Aspidorhynchiformes

[more]

Ateleopodiformes

The jellynose fishes are a small (Ateleopodiformes) of ray-finned fish, consisting of a single family (Ateleopodidae) with about a dozen species in four genera. [more]

Atheriniformes

Atheriniformes, also known as the silversides, is an of ray-finned fish that includes the Old World silversides and several less-familiar families, including the unusual Phallostethidae. They are found worldwide in tropical and temperate marine and freshwater environments. [more]

Aulopiformes

Aulopiformes is an of ray-finned fish consisting of thirteen living families of marine fish. They are grouped together because of common features in the structure of their gill arches. The common name grinners is sometimes used for this group. [more]

Batrachoidiformes

The toadfish comprise the Batrachoididae, the only family in the ray-finned fish order Batrachoidiformes. Both the English common name and scientific name refer to their toad-like appearance (batrakhos is Greek for frog). [more]

Beloniformes

The Beloniformes are an of five families of freshwater and marine ray-finned fish: the Adrianichthyidae (ricefish and medakas); Belonidae (needlefish); Exocoetidae (flyingfishes); Hemiramphidae (halfbeaks): and the Scomberesocidae (sauries). With the exception of the Adrianichthyidae, these are streamlined, medium-sized fishes that live close to the surface of the water feeding on algae, plankton, or smaller animals including other fishes. Most are marine, though a few needlefish and halfbeaks inhabit brackish and fresh waters. [more]

Beryciformes

Beryciformes is an order of . This is a very poorly understood group of 16 families[citation needed], 57 genera, and about 219 species. Most[who?] believe that it is probably an artificial assemblage of unrelated taxa that are thrown together for convenience only; there are no convincing characteristics that tie all members together. Most species live in deep marine waters, and avoid bright light, although they may come closer to the surface at night. [more]

Characiformes

The Characiformes are an order of , comprising the characins and their allies. There are a few thousand different species, including the well-known piranha and tetras. [more]

Clupeiformes

Clupeiformes is the order of that includes the herring family, Clupeidae, and the anchovy family, Engraulidae. The group includes many of the most important food fish. [more]

Cypriniformes

The Cypriniformes are an of ray-finned fish, including the carps, minnows, loaches and relatives. This order contains 5-6 families, over 320 genera, and more than 3,250 species, with new species being described every few months or so, and new genera being recognized regularly. They are most diverse in southeastern Asia, but are entirely absent from Australia and South America. [more]

Cyprinodontiformes

The Cyprinodontiformes is an of ray-finned fish, comprising mostly small, fresh-water fish. Many popular aquarium fish, such as killifish and live-bearers, are included. They are closely related to the Atheriniformes and are occasionally included with them. A colloquial term for the order as a whole is toothcarps, though they are not actually close relatives of the true carps – the latter belong to the superorder Ostariophysi, while the toothcarps are Acanthopterygii. [more]

Dactylopteriformes

[more]

Elopiformes

Elopiformes is the of ray-finned fish that includes the tarpons, tenpounders, and ladyfish, as well as a number of extinct types. They have a long fossil record, easily distinguished from other fishes by the presence of an additional set of bones in the throat. [more]

Esociformes

Esociformes is a small order of , with two families, the Umbridae (mudminnows) and the Esocidae (pikes). The pikes of genus Esox give the order its name. There are ten species--five in each family. [more]

Gadiformes

Gadiformes is an order of , also called the Anacanthini, that includes the cod and its allies. Many major food fish are in this order. They are found in marine waters throughout the world, and there are also a small number of freshwater species. [more]

Gasterosteiformes

Gasterosteiformes is an of ray-finned fishes that includes the sticklebacks and relatives. [more]

Gobiesociformes

Clingfishes are of the family Gobiesocidae. Most species are marine, being found in shallow waters of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. They are bottom-dwelling fishes; some species shelter in sea urchins or crinoids. [more]

Gonorynchiformes

Gonorynchiformes is an of ray-finned fish that includes the important food source, the milkfish (Chanos chanos, family Chanidae), and a number of lesser-known types, both marine and freshwater. [more]

Gymnotiformes

The Gymnotiformes is a lineage of teleost electric fishes. Common names found in the literature include the Neotropical electric fishes, South American electric fishes, or American knifefishes. They are primarily freshwater inhabitants and have organs adapted to the generation of electric fields. [more]

Hiodontiformes

[more]

Ichthyodectiformes

[more]

Ionoscopiformes

[more]

Lampriformes

Lampriformes (also spelt Lampridiformes) are an of ray-finned fish that includes about 50 living species of deep sea fishes, including the opahs, crestfishes, ribbonfishes, and oarfish. These are acanthomorph teleosts which diverged from other teleosts during the Cretaceous, in the late Campanian epoch, when the first lamprid, Nardovelifer appears in the fossil record. The lampriforms then began a radiation even in the succeeding Paleocene period, 60 million years ago. Their sister order is the Myctophiformes. [more]

Lepisosteiformes

In the name gar (or garpike) is strictly applied to members of the Lepisosteus, a family including seven living species of fish in two genera that inhabit fresh, brackish, and occasionally marine, waters of eastern North America, Central America, and the Caribbean islands. [more]

Leptolepidiformes

[more]

Lophiiformes

Anglerfish are the members of the Lophiiformes . They are bony fish named for their characteristic mode of predation, wherein a fleshy growth from the fish's head (the esca or illicium) acts as a lure; this is considered analogous to angling. [more]

Lycopteriformes

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Macrosemiiformes

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Myctophiformes

Myctophiformes is an of ray-finned fish consisting of two families of deep-sea marine fish, most notably the highly abundant lanternfishes (Myctophidae). [more]

Notacanthiformes

Notacanthiformes is an of deep-sea ray-finned fishes, consisting of the families Halosauridae and Notacanthidae (spiny eels) [more]

Ophidiiformes

Ophidiiformes is an of ray-finned fish that includes the cusk eels (family Ophidiidae), pearlfishes (family Carapidae), brotulas (family Bythitidae), and others. [more]

Osteoglossiformes

Osteoglossiformes (Gk. "bony tongues") is a relatively primitive of ray-finned fish that contains two sub-orders, the Osteoglossoidei and the Notopteroidei. All of the living species inhabit freshwater. They are found in South America, Africa, Australia and southern Asia, having first evolved in Gondwana before that continent broke up. [more]

Pachycormiformes

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Palaeonisciformes

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Parasemionotiformes

[more]

Perciformes

The Perciformes, also called the Percomorphi or Acanthopteri, is the largest of vertebrates containing about 40% of all bony fish. Perciformes means perch-like. They belong to the ray-finned fish and comprise over 7000 species found in almost all aquatic environments. They are also the most variably sized order of vertebrates, ranging from the 7mm Schindleria brevipinguis to the 5mMakaira species. They first appeared and diversified in the Late Cretaceous. [more]

Percopsiformes

Percopsiformes is a small order of , comprising the trout-perch and its allies. It contains just nine species, grouped into three families. [more]

Platysomiformes

[more]

Pleuronectiformes

The flatfish are an (Pleuronectiformes) of ray-finned fish, also called the Heterosomata, sometimes classified as a suborder of Perciformes. The name means "side-swimmers" in Greek. In many species both eyes lie on one side of the head, one or the other migrating through and around the head during development. Some species face their "left" side upward, some face their "right" side upward, and others face either side upward. [more]

Polymixiiformes

The beardfishes are a small (Polymixiidae) of deep-sea marine ray-finned fish named for their pair of long hyoid barbels. They have little economic importance. [more]

Pulmonata

The Pulmonata or "pulmonates" are currently an "informal group" (previously an and before that a subclass) of snails and slugs that have developed a pallial lung and thus can breathe air. The group includes many land and freshwater families, and a few marine ones. [more]

Pycnodontiformes

[more]

Redfieldiformes

[more]

Saccopharyngiformes

Saccopharyngiformes is an of unusual ray-finned fish superficially similar to eels, but with many internal differences. Most of the fish in this order are deep-sea types known from only a handful of specimens such as the Umbrella Mouth Gulper Eel. Saccopharyngiformes are also bioluminescent in several species. Some, such as the swallowers, can live as deep as 10,000 feet (3,000 m) in the ocean, well into the aphotic zone. [more]

Salmoniformes

Salmonidae is a of ray-finned fish, the only living family of the order Salmoniformes. It includes salmon, trout, chars, freshwater whitefishes and graylings. The Atlantic salmon and trout of genus Salmo give the family and order their names. [more]

Scorpaeniformes

Scorpaeniformes is an order of , but it has also been called the Scleroparei. [more]

Semionotiformes

Semionotiformes ("flag-back form") is an order of primitive, ray-finned, primarily freshwater fish from the to the Cretaceous. The most well-known genus is Semionotus of Europe and North America. [more]

Siluriformes

Catfish ( Siluriformes) are a diverse group of bony fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the heaviest, the Mekong giant catfish from Southeast Asia and the longest, the wels catfish of Eurasia, to detritivores (species that eat dead material on the bottom), and even to a tiny parasitic species commonly called the candiru, Vandellia cirrhosa. There are armour-plated types and also naked types, neither having scales. Despite their name, not all catfish have prominent barbels; members of the Siluriformes order are defined by features of the skull and swimbladder. Catfish are of considerable commercial importance; many of the larger species are farmed or fished for food. Many of the smaller species, particularly the genus Corydoras, are important in the aquarium hobby. [more]

Stomiiformes

Stomiiformes is an order of deep-sea of very diverse morphology, including dragonfishes, lightfishes, marine hatchetfishes, viperfishes, and loosejaws. The order comprises four families, more than fifty genera and a total of about 320 species. As usual for benthic fishes, there is no common name for all the species comprised in this order. [more]

Synbranchiformes

Synbranchiformes, often called swamp eels, is an of ray-finned fishes that are eel-like but have spiny rays, indicating that they belong to the superorder Acanthopterygii. [more]

Syngnathiformes

Syngnathiformes is an of ray-finned fishes that includes the pipefishes and seahorses. [more]

Tetraodontiformes

The Tetraodontiformes are an of highly derived ray-finned fish, also called the Plectognathi. Sometimes these are classified as a suborder of the Perciformes. The Tetraodontiformes are represented by ten families and approximately 360 species overall; most are marine and dwell in and around tropical coral reefs, but a handful of species are found in freshwater streams and estuaries. They have no close relatives, and descend from a line of coral-dwelling species that emerged around 40 million years ago. [more]

Zeiformes

The Zeiformes are a small of marine ray-finned fishes most notable for the dories, a group of common food fish. The order consists of about 40 species in seven families, mostly deep-sea types. [more]

At least 77 species and subspecies belong to the Order Zeiformes.

More info about the Order Zeiformes may be found here.

Sources

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Last Revised: September 22, 2009
2009/09/22 07:03:39