Aulopiformes

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Order of fishes

title: "Aulopiformes" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["aulopiformes", "articles-which-contain-graphical-timelines", "ray-finned-fish-orders"] description: "Order of fishes" topic_path: "general/aulopiformes" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aulopiformes" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Order of fishes ::

| fossil_range = Early Cretaceous to present | image = Synodus variegatus.jpg | image_caption = Variegated lizardfish, Synodus variegatus (Synodontoidei: Synodontidae) | display_parents = 2 | taxon = Aulopiformes | authority = D. E. Rosen, 1973 | subdivision_ranks = Suborders | subdivision = * Alepisauroidei

Aulopiformes is a diverse order of marine ray-finned fish consisting of some 15 extant and several prehistoric families with about 45 genera and over 230 species. The common names grinners, lizardfishes and allies, or aulopiforms are sometimes used for this group. They are included in the superorder Cyclosquamata, though modern taxonomists consider this superorder to be unwarranted.

Many extant aulopiforms are deep-sea fishes, with some species recognized as being hermaphroditic, a number of which are able to self-fertilise. Some are benthic, but most are pelagic swimmers (nektonic). A clade of Aulopiformes, the suborder Enchodontoidei and its many constituent families, were dominant nektonic fish throughout much of the Late Cretaceous before the extinction of most of their members around the K–Pg event, with the Dercetidae surviving for some time in the Cenozoic.

Taxonomy

Past authors have considered aulopiforms to be so distinct as to warrant separation in a monotypic superorder of the Teleostei, the Cyclosquamata. However, monotypic taxa are generally avoided by modern taxonomists if not necessary, and in this case a distinct superorder seems indeed unwarranted: together with the equally dubious superorder "Stenopterygii", the grinners appear to be closely related to some of the Protacanthopterygii, namely, the Salmoniformes (salmon, trout, and relatives), and should perhaps be part of that larger clade. As an alternative, the superorders are sometimes united as an unranked clade named Euteleostei, but in that case the Protacanthopterygii would need to be split further to account for the phylogenetic uncertainty. This would result in a highly cumbersome and taxonomically redundant group of two very small and no less than four monotypic superorders.

Description

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/Chlorophthalmus_agassizi_Sardinia.jpg" caption="A [[shortnose greeneye]], ''[[Chlorophthalmus agassizi]]''
([[Chlorophthalmoidei]]: [[Chlorophthalmidae]])"] ::

In general, aulopiform fish have a mixture of advanced and primitive characteristics relative to other teleost fish. Aulopiformes are grouped together (claded) because of common features in the structure of their gill arches; their second pharyngobranchial bone (part of the gill arch) is greatly elongated posterolaterally away from third pharyngobranchial, which lacks a cartilaginous condyle to articulate with the preceding bone, but is contacted by the elongated uncinate process of the second epibranchial. Aulopiforms have a gas bladder which is either vestigial or entirely absent, a hypaxialis muscle that is unusually extended forward at its upper end, attaching to the neurocranium below the spine (perhaps to snap the upper part of the skull down when catching prey), and the position of the maxillary bone. Other features include the position of the pelvic fins far back on the body, the fused medial processes of pelvic girdle, and the presence of an adipose fin (which is also typical for the Protacanthopterygii).

The larvae of some Aulopiformes are extremely bizarre-looking, with elongated fins, and do not resemble the adult animals. They were not only described as distinct species, but also even separated as genera and finally in a family "Macristiidae" which was allied with various Protacanthopterygii (sensu lato), but the initial assessment – which found "Macristium" to resemble the deepwater lizardfishes (Bathysauridae) in some details – was in fact not far off the mark: "Macristium" species are now known to be the larvae of Bathysaurus, while the supposed other "macristiids" "Macristiella spp." are larvae of the deepsea tripodfish Bathytyphlops.

Several extant aulopiform families have Cretaceous representatives, and phylogenetic evidence indicates that the extant families of the order diversified around the Early Cretaceous, making it rather ancient. These diversification events included the earliest adaptations for deep-sea living, which is common among many extant aulopiform taxa. Below is a timeline indicating fossil evidence for the group: ImageSize = width:1000px height:auto barincrement:15px PlotArea = left:10px bottom:50px top:10px right:10px

Period = from:-105.0 till:15 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:10 start:-105.0 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:-105.0 TimeAxis = orientation:hor AlignBars = justify

Colors =

  1. legends id:CAR value:claret id:ANK value:rgb(0.4,0.3,0.196) id:HER value:teal id:HAD value:green id:OMN value:blue id:black value:black id:white value:white id:cretaceous value:rgb(0.5,0.78,0.31) id:earlycretaceous value:rgb(0.63,0.78,0.65) id:latecretaceous value:rgb(0.74,0.82,0.37) id:cenozoic value:rgb(0.54,0.54,0.258) id:paleogene value:rgb(0.99,0.6,0.32) id:paleocene value:rgb(0.99,0.65,0.37) id:eocene value:rgb(0.99,0.71,0.42) id:oligocene value:rgb(0.99,0.75,0.48) id:neogene value:rgb(0.999999,0.9,0.1) id:miocene value:rgb(0.999999,0.999999,0) id:pliocene value:rgb(0.97,0.98,0.68) id:quaternary value:rgb(0.98,0.98,0.5) id:pleistocene value:rgb(0.999999,0.95,0.68) id:holocene value:rgb(0.999,0.95,0.88)

BarData= bar:eratop bar:space bar:periodtop bar:space bar:NAM1 bar:NAM2 bar:NAM3 bar:NAM4 bar:NAM5 bar:NAM6 bar:NAM7 bar:NAM8 bar:NAM9

bar:space bar:period bar:space bar:era

PlotData= align:center textcolor:black fontsize:M mark:(line,black) width:25 shift:(7,-4)

bar:periodtop from: -105.0 till: -99.6 color:earlycretaceous text:Early from: -99.6 till: -65.5 color:latecretaceous text:Late from: -65.5 till: -55.8 color:paleocene text:Paleo. from: -55.8 till: -33.9 color:eocene text:Eo. from: -33.9 till: -23.03 color:oligocene text:Oligo. from: -23.03 till: -5.332 color:miocene text:Mio. from: -5.332 till: -2.588 color:pliocene text:Pl. from: -2.588 till: -0.0117 color:pleistocene text:Pl. from: -0.0117 till: 0 color:holocene text:H.

bar:eratop from: -105.0 till: -65.5 color:cretaceous text:Cretaceous from: -65.5 till: -23.03 color:paleogene text:Paleogene from: -23.03 till: -2.588 color:neogene text:Neogene from: -2.588 till: 0 color:quaternary text:Q.

PlotData= align:left fontsize:M mark:(line,white) width:5 anchor:till align:left

color:latecretaceous bar:NAM1 from:-99.6 till:-97.6 text:Nematonotus color:latecretaceous bar:NAM2 from:-99.6 till:-83.5 text:Acrognathus color:eocene bar:NAM3 from:-55.8 till:-48.6 text:Aulopopsis color:eocene bar:NAM4 from:-55.8 till:-48.6 text:Labrophagus color:eocene bar:NAM5 from:-55.8 till:0 text:Aulopus color:eocene bar:NAM6 from:-37.2 till:0 text:Chlorophthalmus color:eocene bar:NAM7 from:-37.2 till:0 text:Scopelosaurus color:oligocene bar:NAM8 from:-28.4 till:0 text:Scopelarchus color:pliocene bar:NAM9 from:-5.332 till:0 text:Notolepis

PlotData= align:center textcolor:black fontsize:M mark:(line,black) width:25

bar:period from: -105.0 till: -99.6 color:earlycretaceous text:Early from: -99.6 till: -65.5 color:latecretaceous text:Late from: -65.5 till: -55.8 color:paleocene text:Paleo. from: -55.8 till: -33.9 color:eocene text:Eo. from: -33.9 till: -23.03 color:oligocene text:Oligo. from: -23.03 till: -5.332 color:miocene text:Mio. from: -5.332 till: -2.588 color:pliocene text:Pl. from: -2.588 till: -0.0117 color:pleistocene text:Pl. from: -0.0117 till: 0 color:holocene text:H.

bar:era from: -105.0 till: -65.5 color:cretaceous text:Cretaceous from: -65.5 till: -23.03 color:paleogene text:Paleogene from: -23.03 till: -2.588 color:neogene text:Neogene from: -2.588 till: 0 color:quaternary text:Q.

Classification

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/Lejap_u5.jpg" caption="''[[Lestrolepis japonica]]''
([[Alepisauroidei]]: [[Paralepididae]])"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/Tripod_fish1.jpg" caption="Tripodfish; ''[[Bathypterois]] sp.''
([[Chlorophthalmoidei]]: [[Ipnopidae]])"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Enchodus_petrosus.jpg" caption="reconstruction]]
([[Enchodontoidei]]: [[Enchodontidae]])"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/Bathysaurus_mollis.jpg" caption="[[Highfin lizardfish]]; ''Bathysaurus mollis''
([[Giganturoidei]]: [[Bathysauridae]])"] ::

means extinct.

Footnotes

References

References

References

  1. (2010-12-01). "Estimating divergence times of lizardfishes and their allies (Euteleostei: Aulopiformes) and the timing of deep-sea adaptations". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.
  2. {{harvtxt. Woodhouse. 1910
  3. {{harvtxt. Glare. 1982
  4. FishBase (2000)
  5. "Table of Contents".
  6. Johnson. Eschmeyer. 1998
  7. Chida, Mori. (Fall 2022). "A new species of dercetid and the assessment of the phylogeny of the Enchodontoidei (Teleostei: Aulopiformes)".
  8. (2021-01-01). "Hastichthys totonacus sp. nov., a North American Turonian dercetid fish (Teleostei, Aulopiformes) from the Huehuetla quarry, Puebla, Mexico". Journal of South American Earth Sciences.
  9. (2019-07-01). "Stratigraphy and Paleobiology of the Upper Cretaceous-Lower Paleogene Sediments from the Trans-Saharan Seaway in Mali".
  10. {{harvtxt. Nelson. 2006
  11. {{harvtxt. Diogo. 2008
  12. {{harvtxt. Taylor. 2009
  13. Uyeno, Teruya. "A Miocene alepisauroid fish of a new family, Polymerichthyidae, from Japan." Bull. Nat. Sci. Mus 10 (1967): 383–394.
  14. Dietze, Kathrin. (2009-06-01). "Morphology and phylogenetic relationships of certain neoteleostean fishes from the Upper Cretaceous of Sendenhorst, Germany". Cretaceous Research.
  15. (2018-11-14). "Comparative anatomy of the gill skeleton of fossil Aulopiformes (Teleostei: Eurypterygii)". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

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