Caproidae

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Family of fishes

title: "Caproidae" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["caproidae", "taxa-named-by-charles-lucien-bonaparte", "acanthuriformes-families", "extant-oligocene-first-appearances"] description: "Family of fishes" topic_path: "general/caproidae" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caproidae" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Family of fishes ::

| name = Boarfishes | fossil_range = | image = Capros aper Scheveningen Sea Life 15022016 1.jpg | image_caption = Boarfish, Capros aper, the only extant species | taxon = Caproidae | authority = Bonaparte, 1835 | subdivision_ranks = Genera | subdivision = see text

Caproidae, or boarfishes, are a small family of marine fishes with a single extant species, the boarfish (Capros aper), native to the northeastern Atlantic Ocean, as well as a few other extinct species and genera.

Etymology

Caproidae comes from the genus name Capros which is derived from the Greek word kapros meanin "boar". This is a reference to the rather cylindrical snout, ending in a small mouth with a protrusible upper lip which Bonaparte thought had some resemblance to snout of a pig or boar.

Taxonomy

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/Capros_rhenanus_34maf_olig_romania.jpg" caption="Fossil specimens of ''[[Capros rhenanus]]''"] ::

Caproidae was first proposed as a family in 1835 by the French naturalist and ornithologist Charles Lucien Bonaparte. Caproidae was formerly placed in the order Zeiformes with the dories, but were later moved to Perciformes based on percoid characteristics of the caudal skeleton and other morphological evidence. More recent revisions of Percomorpha have seen them placed in Caproiformes or Acanthuriformes. Presently, Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes places them in the latter.

In the past, the deepwater boarfishes of the family Antigoniidae were placed in this family as the subfamily Antigoniinae. However, the monophyly of this classification has always been poorly attested, and presently Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes recognizes both as distinct families. At least some recent studies suggest that this former classification was paraphyletic, with antigoniids being the sister group to the Lophiiformes and Tetraodontiformes, while caproids are sister to the Priacanthidae.

Fossil remains of caproids are largely restricted to the Mediterranean and former Paratethyan region, suggesting that this region was important to the evolution of the group. The only surviving member, the boarfish, is also similarly restricted to the Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic, continuing the unique extent of the group's distribution.

Genera

Caproidae contains the following genera:

Characteristics

Caproidae are characterised by small ctenoid scales covering the body. They have between 7 and 9 spines in the dorsal fin, there are 2 or 3 spines in the anal fin while the pelvic fins have one spine and five soft rays. The caudal fin is rounded. They have an obvious sagittal crest and pleural ribs. The vertebrate count is 21 to 23. The boarfish (Capros aper) can grow up to 30 cm long.

References

References

  1. (2025). "ESCHMEYER'S CATALOG OF FISHES: CLASSIFICATION".
  2. Christopher Scharpf. (6 February 2024). "Order ACANTHURIFORMES (part 2): Families EPHIPPIDAE, LEIOGNATHIDAE, SCATOPHAGIDAE, ANTIGONIIDAE, SIGANIDAE, CAPROIDAE, LUVARIDAE, ZANCLIDAE and ACANTHURIDAE". Christopher Scharpf.
  3. (2014). "Family-group names of recent fishes". Zootaxa.
  4. (2016). "''Fishes of the World''". [[John Wiley & Sons]].
  5. (2017). "Phylogenetic classification of bony fishes". BMC Evolutionary Biology.
  6. "Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes Classification".
  7. {{FishBase family. (2023)
  8. (2016). "Fishes of the World". [[John Wiley & Sons]].
  9. (2005). "Revision of the fossil fishes of the family Caproidae (Acanthomorpha)". Studi e ricerche sui giacimenti terziari di Bolca.
  10. (2025-05-02). "A total-evidence phylogenetic approach to understanding the evolution, depth transitions, and body-shape changes in the anglerfishes and allies (Acanthuriformes: Lophioidei)". PLOS ONE.
  11. (2015-03-23). "A new Oligocene relative of the Caproidae (Teleostei: Acanthopterygii) from the Outer Carpathians, Poland". Bulletin of Geosciences.

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caproidaetaxa-named-by-charles-lucien-bonaparteacanthuriformes-familiesextant-oligocene-first-appearances