Elopomorpha

Elopomorpha
Temporal range: Early Jurassic to present, 201.3–0 Ma
Anguilla anguilla
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Division: Teleostei
Superorder: Elopomorpha
P. H. Greenwood, D. E. Rosen, S. H. Weitzman, and G. S. Meyers, 1966[1]
Synonyms
  • Taeniopaedia Greenwood et al. 1967 sensu Nelson 1973
  • Elopocephalai Patterson 1977 sensu Arratia 1999

The superorder Elopomorpha contains a variety of types of fishes that range from typical silvery-colored species, such as the tarpons and ladyfishes of the Elopiformes and the bonefishes of the Albuliformes, to the long and slender, smooth-bodied eels of the Anguilliformes. The one characteristic uniting this group of fishes is they all have leptocephalus larvae, which are unique to the Elopomorpha. No other fishes have this type of larvae.

  1. ^ Thomas J. Near; Christine E. Thacker. "Phylogenetic Classification of Living and Fossil Ray-Finned Fishes (Actinopterygii)". Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History. 65 (1): 3–302. doi:10.3374/014.065.0101.