Osteoglossiformes
| Osteoglossiformes Temporal range: Late Jurassic–Recent | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Osteoglossum bicirrhosum | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Superorder: | Osteoglossomorpha |
| Order: | Osteoglossiformes L. S. Berg, 1940 |
| Families | |
|
Suborder Notopteroidei
Suborder Osteoglossoidei
| |
Osteoglossiformes (Greek: "bony tongues") is a relatively primitive order of ray-finned fish that contains two sub-orders, the Osteoglossoidei and the Notopteroidei. All of at least 245 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.[2]
The mooneyes (Hiodontidae) are often classified here, but may also be placed in a separate order, Hiodontiformes.
Members of the order are notable for having toothed or bony tongues, and for having the forward part of the gastrointestinal tract pass to the left of the oesophagus and stomach (for all other fish it passes to the right). In other respects, osteoglossiform fishes vary considerably in size and form; the smallest is Pollimyrus castelnaui, at just 2 centimetres (0.79 in) long, while the largest, the arapaima (Arapaima gigas), reaches as much as 2.5 metres (8.2 ft).[2]
Timeline of genera
References
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Osteoglossiformes. |
- Mikko's Phylogeny for Osteoglossiformes
- Osteoglossiforms for aquaria
- Li, Guo-Qing and Wilson, Mark V. H. 1998. Osteoglossomorpha. Bonytongues. Version 6 October 1998. in The Tree of Life Web Project
- Sepkoski, Jack (2002). "A compendium of fossil marine animal genera". Bulletins of American Paleontology. 364: 560. Retrieved 2011-05-17.