| Ovalentaria Temporal range:
| |
|---|---|
| |
| Atlantic chromis (Chromis limbata), a damselfish | |
| |
| Reef needlefish Strongylura incisa | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Clade: | Percomorpha |
| Clade: | Ovalentaria W. L. Smith and T. J. Near, 2012 |
Ovalentaria is a clade of ray-finned fishes within the Percomorpha, referred to as a subseries. It is made up of a group of fish families which are referred to in Fishes of the World's fifth edition as incertae sedis, as well as the orders Mugiliformes, Cichliformes, and Blenniiformes. It was named by W. L. Smith and T. J. Near in Wainwright et al. (2012) based on a molecular phylogeny, but the authors suggested that the group was united by the presence of demersal eggs that are attached to a substrate. Some authors have used the ordinal name Stiassnyiformes for a clade including Mugiloidei, Plesiopidae, Blenniiformes, Atherinomorpha, and Cichlidae, and this grouping does appear to be monophyletic.[2]
.jpg)
- ^ Cantalice, Kleyton Magno; Alvarado-Ortega, Jesús; Bellwood, David Roy (2020-03-01). "†Chaychanus gonzalezorum gen. et sp. nov.: A damselfish fossil (Percomorphaceae; Pomacentridae), from the Early Paleocene outcrop of Chiapas, Southeastern Mexico". Journal of South American Earth Sciences. 98: 102322. doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2019.102322. ISSN 0895-9811.
- ^ J. S. Nelson; T. C. Grande; M. V. H. Wilson (2016). Fishes of the World (5th ed.). Wiley. p. 752. ISBN 978-1-118-34233-6.