Osteoglossiformes

Osteoglossiformes /ˌɒstiːoʊˈɡlɒsɪfɔːrmiːz/ (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]

Osteoglossiformes
Temporal range: Late Jurassic–Recent [1]
Osteoglossum bicirrhosum
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Superorder: Osteoglossomorpha
Order: Osteoglossiformes
L. S. Berg, 1940
Families
Synonyms
  • Mormirimi Rafinesque 1810
  • Mormyriformes
  • Scyphophori

The Gymnarchidae (the only species being Gymnarchus niloticus, the African knifefish[3]) and the Mormyridae[4] are weakly electric fish able to sense their prey using electric fields.

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]

Phylogeny

Phylogeny based on the following works:[5][6][7]

Osteoglossiformes
Pantodontoidei

Pantodontidae

 
 
Osteoglossoidei

Osteoglossidae

 
Notopteroidei
Notopteroidea

Notopteridae

 
Mormyroidea
 

Gymnarchidae

 
 

Mormyridae

 
 
 
 
 

References
  1. Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2009). "Osteoglossiformes" in FishBase. January 2009 version.
  2. Greenwood, P.H. & Wilson, M.V. (1998). Paxton, J.R. & Eschmeyer, W.N. (eds.). Encyclopedia of Fishes. San Diego: Academic Press. pp. 81–84. ISBN 0-12-547665-5.
  3. Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2014). "Gymnarchus niloticus" in FishBase. April 2014 version.
  4. Greenwood, P.H. & Wilson, M.V. (1998). Paxton, J.R. & Eschmeyer, W.N. (eds.). Encyclopedia of Fishes. San Diego: Academic Press. p. 84. ISBN 0-12-547665-5.
  5. Betancur-Rodriguez, R.; et al. (2016). "Phylogenetic Classification of Bony Fishes Version 4". Deepfin. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  6. Lavoué, S., Sullivan J. P., & Hopkins C. D. (2003): Phylogenetic utility of the first two introns of the S7 ribosomal protein gene in African electric fishes (Mormyroidea: Teleostei) and congruence with other molecular markers. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 78, 273-292. PDF Archived 2014-10-30 at the Wayback Machine
  7. Sullivan, J. P., Lavoué S., & Hopkins C. D. (2000): Molecular systematics of the African electric fishes (Mormyroidea: Teleostei) and a model for the evolution of their electric organs. Journal of Experimental Biology. 203, 665-683. PDF Archived 2014-10-30 at the Wayback Machine
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