Elopomorpha

Elopomorpha
Anguilla anguilla
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Infraclass:	Teleostei
Superorder:	Elopomorpha

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.

The Elopomorpha are a group of Teleostei fishes were historically separated into:

• Elopiformes
  • Elopidae
  • Megalopidae
• Albuliformes
  • Albulidae
• Notacanthiformes
  • Halosauridae
  • Notacanthidae
• Anguilliformes
  • Anguilloidei
  • Nemichthyoidei
  • Congroidei
  • Synaphobranchoidei
• Saccopharyngiformes
  • Cyematidae
  • Saccopharyngidae
  • Eurypharyngidae
  • Monognathidae
• Crossognathiformes(†)

Recent molecular genetic data have shown, however, the Notocanthiformes are part of the Albuliformes, and the Saccopharyngiformes are part of the Anguilliformes.

References