Stomiiformes is an

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...

deep-sea The deep sea is broadly defined as the ocean depth where light begins to fade, at an approximate depth of or the point of transition from continental shelves to continental slopes. Conditions within the deep sea are a combination of low tempe ...

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fish or actinopterygians, is a class of bony fish that comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. They are so called because of their lightly built fins made of webbings of sk ...

es of very diverse

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines *Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts *Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...

. It includes, for example, dragonfishes, lightfishes ( Gonostomatidae and

Phosichthyidae Lightfishes are small stomiiform fishes in the family Phosichthyidae The earliest fossils of lightfishes are of the genus †'' Sytchevskia'' Prokofiev, 2002, known from Middle Eocene-aged Tethyan marine strata in Georgia. They are very small ...

), loosejaws,

marine hatchetfish Marine hatchetfishes or deep-sea hatchetfishes are small deep-sea mesopelagic ray-finned fish of the stomiiform subfamily Sternoptychinae. They should not be confused with the freshwater hatchetfishes, which are not particularly closely relate ...

es and

viperfish A viperfish is any species of marine fish in the genus ''Chauliodus''. Viperfish are mostly found in the mesopelagic zone and are characterized by long, needle-like teeth and hinged lower jaws. A typical viperfish grows to lengths of . Viperfis ...

es. The order contains 4

families Family (from ) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictability, structure, and safety as ...

(5 according to some authors) with more than 50

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

and at least 410

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

. As usual for

fishes, there are few common names for species of the order, but the Stomiiformes as a whole are often called dragonfishes and allies or simply stomiiforms. The

scientific name In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

means "''Stomias''-shaped", from '' Stomias'' (the

type genus In biological taxonomy, the type genus (''genus typica'') is the genus which defines a biological family and the root of the family name. Zoological nomenclature According to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, "The name-bearin ...

) + the standard

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

order

suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns and adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can ca ...

"-formes". It ultimately derives from

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

''stóma'' (στόμᾶ, "mouth") +

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

''forma'' ("external form"), the former in reference to the huge mouth opening of these fishes. The earliest stomiiform is '' Paravinciguerria'' from the

Cenomanian The Cenomanian is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy's (ICS) geological timescale, the oldest or earliest age (geology), age of the Late Cretaceous epoch (geology), Epoch or the lowest stage (stratigraphy), stage of the Upper Cretace ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Description and ecology

Members of this order are mostly

pelagic The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean and can be further divided into regions by depth. The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or water column between the sur ...

fishes living in deep oceanic waters. Their distribution around the world's oceans is very wide, ranging from

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones immediately to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Ge ...

and

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...

waters up to

subarctic The subarctic zone is a region in the Northern Hemisphere immediately south of the true Arctic, north of hemiboreal regions and covering much of Alaska, Canada, Iceland, the north of Fennoscandia, Northwestern Russia, Siberia, and the Cair ...

or even

Antarctic The Antarctic (, ; commonly ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the South Pole, lying within the Antarctic Circle. It is antipodes, diametrically opposite of the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antar ...

ones.FishBase (2005), Nelson (2006): p.207 Messina Straits Chauliodus sloani

The smallest species of this order is the bristlemouth '' Cyclothone pygmaea''. Native to the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

, it reaches just 1.5 cm (0.6 in) as an adult. The largest species is the

barbeled dragonfish Stomiidae is a family (biology), family of deep-sea ray-finned fish, including the barbeled dragonfishes, that live in all oceans in a wide range of depths. They are quite small, usually around 15 cm, up to 26 cm, and they exhibit a st ...

'' Opostomias micripnus'', widely found in the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

, Indian and

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

s and measuring about in adult length. These fish have a highly unusual and often almost nightmarish appearance. They all have teeth on the

premaxilla The premaxilla (or praemaxilla) is one of a pair of small cranial bones at the very tip of the upper jaw of many animals, usually, but not always, bearing teeth. In humans, they are fused with the maxilla. The "premaxilla" of therian mammals h ...

and

maxilla In vertebrates, the maxilla (: maxillae ) is the upper fixed (not fixed in Neopterygii) bone of the jaw formed from the fusion of two maxillary bones. In humans, the upper jaw includes the hard palate in the front of the mouth. The two maxil ...

. Their maxillary

ligament A ligament is a type of fibrous connective tissue in the body that connects bones to other bones. It also connects flight feathers to bones, in dinosaurs and birds. All 30,000 species of amniotes (land animals with internal bones) have liga ...

s, as well as some muscles and certain bones in the branchial cavity, are specialized in a distinctive way. Most have large mouths extending back past the eyes. Some also have a chin

barbel Barbel may refer to: *Barbel (anatomy), a whisker-like organ near the mouth found in some fish (notably catfish, loaches and cyprinids) and turtles *Barbel (fish), a common name for certain species of fish **''Barbus barbus'', a species of cyprini ...

. The

dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage The fus ...

and/or

pectoral fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish aquatic locomotion, swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the vertebral column ...

s are missing in some, but others have an

adipose fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported only b ...

. The

pelvic fin Pelvic fins or ventral fins are paired fins located on the ventral (belly) surface of fish, and are the lower of the only two sets of paired fins (the other being the laterally positioned pectoral fins). The pelvic fins are homologous to the hi ...

has 4–9 rays, and the stomiiformes possess 5–24 branchiostegal rays. Their scales are

cycloid In geometry, a cycloid is the curve traced by a point on a circle as it Rolling, rolls along a Line (geometry), straight line without slipping. A cycloid is a specific form of trochoid and is an example of a roulette (curve), roulette, a curve g ...

, delicate and easily sloughed off; some are scaleless. The coloration is typically dark brown or black; a few (mostly Gonostomatoidei) are silver, and

photophore A photophore is a specialized anatomical structure found in a variety of organisms that emits light through the process of boluminescence. This light may be produced endogenously by the organism itself (symbiotic) or generated through a mut ...

s (light-producing organs) are common in this order. The teeth of stomiiformes are often transparent and non-reflective so that prey will be unlikely to see them in the light generated by bioluminescence. Research has revealed that the transparency of the teeth of '' Aristostomias scintillans'' is due to nanoscale structures composed

hydroxyapatite Hydroxyapatite (International Mineralogical Association, IMA name: hydroxylapatite) (Hap, HAp, or HA) is a naturally occurring mineral form of calcium apatite with the Chemical formula, formula , often written to denote that the Crystal struc ...

and

collagen Collagen () is the main structural protein in the extracellular matrix of the connective tissues of many animals. It is the most abundant protein in mammals, making up 25% to 35% of protein content. Amino acids are bound together to form a trip ...

and a lack dentin tubules, however a study from a decade prior had shown the teeth of '' Chauliodus sloani'' (which are also transparent) have dentin tubules. The reason behind difference in presence of dentin tubules in two species of the same family (Stomiidae) has yet to be addressed.

Bioluminescence

Messina Straits Argyropelecus hemigymnus

As common for

creatures, all members of Stomiiformes (except one) have

s, whose structure is characteristic of the order. The light emitted can be more or less strong and its color can be light yellow, white, violet or red. The light coming from these fish is generally invisible to their prey. The lighting mechanism can be very simple – consisting of small gleaming points on the fish body – or very elaborate, involving

lens A lens is a transmissive optical device that focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements'') ...

es and

refractor A refracting telescope (also called a refractor) is a type of optical telescope that uses a lens as its objective to form an image (also referred to a dioptric telescope). The refracting telescope design was originally used in spyglasses and ...

s. The most common arrangement is one or two rows of photophores on the ventral aspect of the body. The rows run from the head down to the tip of the tail. Photophores are also present in chin barbels of the family

Stomiidae Stomiidae is a family of deep-sea ray-finned fish, including the barbeled dragonfishes, that live in all oceans in a wide range of depths. They are quite small, usually around 15 cm, up to 26 cm, and they exhibit a strong sexual dimorp ...

. The light produced in these glandular organs is the product of an enzymatic reaction, a catylization of

coelenterazine Coelenterazine is a luciferin, a molecule that emits light after reaction with oxygen, found in many aquatic organisms across eight phyla. It is the substrate of many luciferases such as '' Renilla reniformis'' luciferase (Rluc), ''Gaussia'' lu ...

by calcium ions.

Daily migration

During the day, Stomiiformes stay in deep waters. When the sun sets, most of them follow the dimming sunlight up to near-surface waters, which are richer in animal life such as small fishes and

plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms that drift in Hydrosphere, water (or atmosphere, air) but are unable to actively propel themselves against ocean current, currents (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are ca ...

invertebrate Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordata, chordate s ...

s. During the night, these Stomiiformes hunt and feed on such organisms, swimming back to deeper waters when the sun rises. They apparently are able to measure the intensity of the sunlight that reaches them. They will thus move to stay always in the zone where light intensity is very low, though it is not entirely dark. This daily migration is well observed in quite a few species of stomiiforms. However, it is also performed by other fishes, while some larger Stomiiformes – among them the largest

predator Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common List of feeding behaviours, feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation ...

s of the deep sea – stay in their

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

all the time and feed on smaller migrating fish that return from the surface.

Reproduction

Stomiiforms

spawn Spawn or spawning may refer to: * Spawning, the eggs and sperm of aquatic animals Arts, entertainment and media * Spawn (character), a fictional character in the comic series of the same name and in the associated franchise ** ''Spawn: Armageddon' ...

generally in deep seas, but the eggs are light and float towards the ocean surface. They hatch in surface waters. When the

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

e have completed their

metamorphosis Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops including birth transformation or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and different ...

and look like adults, they descend to join the main population. Like many

benthic The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from the Ancient Greek word (), meaning "the depths". ...

fish species, certain members of the order – especially in the genera '' Cyclothone'' and '' Gonostoma'' – change their sex during their life. When they become

sexually mature Sexual maturity is the capability of an organism to reproduce. In humans, it is related to both puberty and adulthood. ''Puberty'' is the biological process of sexual maturation, while ''adulthood'', the condition of being socially recognized as ...

, they are males; later on they transform into females.

Systematics

The Stomiiformes are often placed in the

teleost Teleostei (; Ancient Greek, Greek ''teleios'' "complete" + ''osteon'' "bone"), members of which are known as teleosts (), is, by far, the largest group of ray-finned fishes (class Actinopterygii), with 96% of all neontology, extant species of f ...

superorder Order () is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and recognized ...

Stenopterygii Stenopterygii are a superorder of ray-finned fish in the infraclass Teleostei. Their validity is somewhat doubtful, as the group was established to separate, out of a large group of closely related Teleostei, a mere two rather peculiarly autapom ...

, usually together with the

Ateleopodiformes The jellynose fishes or tadpole fishes are the small order Ateleopodiformes. This group of ray-finned fish is monotypic, containing a single family Ateleopodidae. It has about a dozen species in four genera, but these enigmatic fishes are in nee ...

(jellynoses), but sometimes on their own. Whether it is indeed justified to accept such a small group is doubtful; it may well be that the closest living relatives of the "Stenopterygii" are found among the superorder

Protacanthopterygii Protacanthopterygii is a superorder of ray-finned fish. They inhabit both Marine (ocean), marine and freshwater habitats. They appear to have evolved in the Cretaceous or perhaps late Jurassic, originating probably roughly 150 million years ago; ...

, and that the former would need to be merged in the latter. In some classifications, the "Stenopterygii" are kept separate but included with the Protacanthopterygii and the

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

superorder Cyclosquamata in an unranked

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

called Euteleostei. That would probably require splitting two additional monotypic superorders out of the Protacanthopterygii, and thus result in a profusion of very small

taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and ...

The Stomiiformes have also been considered close relatives of the

Aulopiformes Aulopiformes is a diverse order (biology), order of Marine (ocean), marine ray-finned fish consisting of some 15 Extant taxon, extant and several prehistoric family (biology), families with about 45 genera and over 230 species. The common names ...

. The latter are otherwise placed in a monotypic superorder "Cyclosquamata" but also appear to be quite close to the Protacanthopterygii indeed. The relationships of these – and the

Lampriformes Lampriformes is an order (biology), order of Actinopterygii, ray-finned fish. Members are collectively called lamprids (which is more properly used for the Opah, Lampridae) or lampriforms, and unite such open-ocean and partially Deep sea, deep-s ...

or Myctophiformes, which are also usually treated as monotypic superorders – to the taxa mentioned before is still not well resolved at all, and regardless whether one calls them Protacanthopterygii ''

sensu lato ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular co ...

'' or Euteleostei, the

phylogeny A phylogenetic tree or phylogeny is a graphical representation which shows the evolutionary history between a set of species or Taxon, taxa during a specific time.Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, M ...

of this group of moderately-advanced Teleostei is in need of further study.FishBase (2005), Diogo (2008) The ancestral Stomiiformes probably had thin brownish bodies, rows of egg-shaped

s adorning the lower body parts, and mouths with numerous teeth. From these, two lineages

evolved Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...

, probably some time during the

Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the more recent of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''cre ...

: Among the modern Stomiiformes, the Gonostomatidae and

are

phenetic In biology, phenetics (; ), also known as taximetrics, is an attempt to classify organisms based on overall similarity, usually with respect to Morphology (biology), morphology or other observable traits, regardless of their phylogeny or evoluti ...

ally very similar, but this is due to their being very

plesiomorph In phylogenetics, a plesiomorphy ("near form") and symplesiomorphy are synonyms for an ancestral Phenotypic trait, character shared by all members of a clade, which does not distinguish the clade from other clades. Plesiomorphy, symplesiomorph ...

ic and retaining many traits of the original stomiiforms. Each of the two has characteristic synapomorphies with one of the more advanced stomiiform families – the

Sternoptychidae The marine hatchetfishes or deep-sea hatchetfishes as well as the related bottlelights, pearlsides and constellationfishes are small deep-sea ray-finned fish of the stomiiform family Sternoptychidae. They are not closely related to and shoul ...

and the

, respectively. These two, in turn, are highly autapomorphic, and at a casual glance do not look as if they were as closely related to the other stomiiforms as they actually are. Thus, the classification of the

suborder Order () is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and recognized ...

s and

of the Stomiiformes is: * Suborder Gonostomatoidei ** Family Gonostomatidae – bristlemouths, anglemouths, "lightfishes" (including Diplophidae) ** Family

– marine hatchetfishes, bottlelights, constellationfishes, pearlsides * Suborder Stomioidei ** Family

– lightfishes ** Family

– barbeled dragonfishes, loosejaws, stareaters

Timeline of genera

ImageSize =width:1000px height:auto barincrement:15px PlotArea =left:10px bottom:50px top:10px right:10px Period =from:-145.5 till:20 TimeAxis =orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor =unit:year increment:10 start:-145.5 ScaleMinor =unit:year increment:1 start:-145.5 TimeAxis =orientation:hor AlignBars =justify Colors = #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:NAM10 bar:NAM11 bar:NAM12 bar:NAM13 bar:NAM14 bar:NAM15 bar:NAM16 bar:NAM17 bar:NAM18 bar:NAM19 bar:NAM20 bar:NAM21 bar:NAM22 bar:NAM23 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: -145.5 till: -99.6 color:earlycretaceous text: Early from: -99.6 till: -65.5 color:latecretaceous text:

Late Late or LATE may refer to: Everyday usage * Tardy, or late, not being on time * Late (or the late) may refer to a person who is dead Music * ''Late'' (The 77s album), 2000 * Late (Alvin Batiste album), 1993 * Late!, a pseudonym used by Dave Groh ...

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: -145.5 till: -65.5 color:cretaceous text:

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

from: -65.5 till: -23.03 color:paleogene text:

Paleogene The Paleogene Period ( ; also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene) is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Neogene Period Ma. It is the fir ...

from: -23.03 till: -2.588 color:neogene text:

Neogene The Neogene ( ,) is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period million years ago. It is the second period of th ...

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: Paravinciguerria color:latecretaceous bar:NAM2 from:-99.6 till:-28.4 text: Idrissia color:eocene bar:NAM3 from:-55.8 till:0 text:

Polymetme ''Polymetme'' is a genus of Phosichthyidae, lightfishes. Species There are currently six recognized species in this genus: * ''Polymetme andriashevi'' Nikolai Vasilyevich Parin, Parin & Oksana Dmitrievna Borodulina, Borodulina, 1990 * ''Polymetm ...

color:eocene bar:NAM4 from:-55.8 till:0 text: Valenciennellus color:eocene bar:NAM5 from:-55.8 till:0 text:

Argyropelecus ''Argyropelecus'' is an oceanic Actinopterygii, ray-finned fish genus in the deep sea hatchetfish family (biology), family Sternoptychidae. A collective name is "Marine hatchetfish, silver hatchetfishes", but this can also refer to a species of ...

color:eocene bar:NAM6 from:-48.6 till:-37.2 text: Polyipnoides color:eocene bar:NAM7 from:-48.6 till:0 text: Astronesthes color:eocene bar:NAM8 from:-48.6 till:0 text: Vinciguerria color:eocene bar:NAM9 from:-37.2 till:0 text: Danaphos color:oligocene bar:NAM10 from:-33.9 till:-28.4 text: Praewoodsia color:oligocene bar:NAM11 from:-33.9 till:-28.4 text: Scopeloides color:oligocene bar:NAM12 from:-33.9 till:0 text: Polyipnus color:oligocene bar:NAM13 from:-33.9 till:0 text:

Sternoptyx ''Sternoptyx'' is an oceanic ray-finned fish genus which belongs in the family (biology), family Sternoptychidae. This is the type genus of the Sternoptychidae, as well as the marine hatchetfish subfamily Sternoptychinae. ''Sternoptyx'' have si ...

color:oligocene bar:NAM14 from:-28.4 till:0 text: Argyripnus color:miocene bar:NAM15 from:-23.03 till:0 text: Polymetmeglareosus color:miocene bar:NAM16 from:-23.03 till:0 text: Maurolicus color:miocene bar:NAM17 from:-15.97 till:-11.61 text: Ohuus color:miocene bar:NAM18 from:-11.61 till:-2.59 text: Sahelinia color:miocene bar:NAM19 from:-11.61 till:0 text: Chauliodus color:miocene bar:NAM20 from:-11.61 till:0 text: Cyclothone color:miocene bar:NAM21 from:-11.61 till:0 text: Gonostoma color:miocene bar:NAM22 from:-11.61 till:0 text: Ichthyococcus color:pliocene bar:NAM23 from:-5.33 till:0 text: Photichthys PlotData= align:center textcolor:black fontsize:M mark:(line,black) width:25 bar:period from: -145.5 till: -99.6 color:earlycretaceous text: Early from: -99.6 till: -65.5 color:latecretaceous text:

from: -65.5 till: -23.03 color:paleogene text:

from: -23.03 till: -2.588 color:neogene text:

from: -2.588 till: 0 color:quaternary text: Q.

Footnotes

References

* (2008): On the cephalic and pectoral girdle muscles of the deep sea fish ''Alepocephalus rostratus'', with comments on the functional morphology and phylogenetic relationships of the Alepocephaloidei (Teleostei). '' Anim. Biol.'' 58(1): 23–29. * (2005)
Order Stomiiformes
Version of 2005-FEB-15. Retrieved 2009-SEP-28. * * (1968-1982): ''

Oxford Latin Dictionary The ''Oxford Latin Dictionary'' (or ''OLD'') is the standard English lexicon of Classical Latin, compiled from sources written before AD 200. Begun in 1933, it was published in fascicles between 1968 and 1982; a lightly revised second edition ...

'' (1st ed.). Oxford University Press, Oxford. * * (2006): ''

Fishes of the World ''Fishes of the World'' is a standard reference for the systematics of fishes. It was first written in 1976 by the American ichthyologist Joseph S. Nelson (1937–2011). Now in its fifth edition (2016), the work is a comprehensive overview of t ...

'' (4th ed.). John Wiley & Sons, Inc. * * (1910): ''English-Greek Dictionary - A Vocabulary of the Attic Language''. George Routledge & Sons Ltd., Broadway House, Ludgate Hill, E.C
Searchable JPEG fulltext
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q657570 Articles which contain graphical timelines Ray-finned fish orders Bioluminescent fish Taxa named by Charles Tate Regan