fish
Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of ...
families
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideal ...
sorted alphabetically by scientific name. There are 525 families in the list.
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G - H - I - J - K -
L - M - N - O - P - R - S - T - U - V - W - X - Y - Z
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Acestrorhynchidae
''Acestrorhynchus'' ("needle jaw" ) is a genus of 14 species of characiform fish found only in fresh water in South America, the sole genus in the family Acestrorhynchidae. Their greatest diversity is in the Orinoco and Amazon basin
The Ama ...
Acropomatidae
Acropomatidae is a family of fish in the order Perciformes, commonly known as lanternbellies. ''Acropoma'' species are notable for having light-emitting organs along their undersides. They are found in all temperate and tropical oceans, usually ...
Albulidae
Albulidae is a family of fish, commonly known as the bonefishes, that are popular as game fish in Florida, select locations in the South Pacific and the Bahamas (where two bonefish are featured on the 10-cent coin) and elsewhere. The family is s ...
Alopiidae
Thresher sharks are large lamniform sharks of the family Alopiidae found in all temperate and tropical oceans of the world; the family contains three extant species, all within the genus ''Alopias''.
All three thresher shark species have been l ...
Amblyopsidae
The Amblyopsidae are a fish family commonly referred to as cavefish, blindfish, or swampfish. They are small freshwater fish found in the dark environments of caves (underground lakes, pools, rivers and streams), springs and swamps in the easter ...
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Amiidae
The Amiidae are a family of basal ray-finned fishes. The bowfin is the only species to survive today, although additional species in all four subfamilies of Amiidae are known from Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Eocene fossils.
Bowfins are now found ...
Anablepidae
Anablepidae is a family of fishes which live in brackish and freshwater habitats from southern Mexico to southern South America. There are three genera with sixteen species: the four-eyed fishes (genus '' Anableps''), the onesided livebearers (ge ...
Anarhichadidae
Anarhichadidae, the wolffishes, sea wolves or wolf eels, is a family of marine ray finned fishes belonging to the order Scorpaeniformes. These are predatory, eel shaped fishes which are native to the cold waters of the Arctic, North Pacific and ...
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Anguillidae
The Anguillidae are a family of ray-finned fish that contains the freshwater eels. Eighteen of the 19 extant species and six subspecies in this family are in the genus ''Anguilla''. They are elongated fish with snake-like bodies, their long dorsa ...
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Anomalopidae
Anomalopidae (lanterneye fishes or flashlight fishes) are a family of fish distinguished by bioluminescent organs located underneath their eyes, for which they are named. These light organs contain luminous bacteria and can be "shut off" by the ...
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Anoplogastridae
Fangtooths are beryciform fish of the family Anoplogastridae (sometimes spelled "Anoplogasteridae") that live in the deep sea. The name is from the Greek , meaning "unarmed", and (), meaning "stomach". With a circumglobal distribution in tropic ...
Anostomidae
The Anostomidae are a family (biology), family of ray-finned fishes that belong to the order (biology), order Characiformes. Closely related to the Chilodontidae (fishes), Chilodontidae and formerly included with them, the Anostomidae contain abo ...
Aploactinidae
Little velvetfishes or simply velvetfishes are a family, the Aploactinidae, of marine ray-finned fishes classified within the order Scorpaeniformes. They are small fish that have skin with a velvet texture. They live on the sea bottom close to t ...
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Aplocheilidae
Aplocheilidae, the Asian killifishes or Asian rivulines, is a family of fish in the order Cyprinodontiformes found in Asia. Some authorities use this family-group name, which is well-established, for a single lumped aplocheiloid family as it giv ...
Argentinidae
The herring smelts or argentines are a family, Argentinidae, of marine smelts. They are similar in appearance to smelt (fish), smelts (family Smelt (fish), Osmeridae) but have much smaller mouths.
They are found in oceans throughout the world. ...
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Ariidae
The Ariidae or ariid catfish are a family of catfish that mainly live in marine waters with many freshwater and brackish water species. They are found worldwide in tropical to warm temperate zones. The family includes about 143 species.
Taxonomy ...
Aspredinidae
The Aspredinidae are a small South American family of catfishes (order Siluriformes) also known as the banjo catfishes, with about 43 species.
Distribution
Aspredinids are found throughout the major tropical rivers of South America (e.g., Magda ...
Atherinidae
The Old World silversides are a family, Atherinidae, of fish in the order Atheriniformes. Atherinidae are abundant and considered bony fish (teleost) that are widespread globally, living in rivers, estuaries, and coastal waters. They occur worl ...
Aulopidae
The Aulopidae are a small family of aulopiform fish. They are found in most tropical and subtropical oceans, and are commonly known as flagfins.
The aulopids resemble lizardfishes in appearance, and range up to in length. They have large dorsal ...
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Aulorhynchidae
Aulorhynchidae, the tube-snouts, is a small family of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the suborder Gasterosteoidei in the order Scorpaeniformes. These fishes are found in the northern Pacific Ocean.
Taxonomy
Aulorhynchidae was first propo ...
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Aulostomidae
The trumpetfishes are three species of highly specialized, tubularly-elongated marine fishes in the genus ''Aulostomus'', of the monogeneric family Aulostomidae. The trumpetfishes are members of the order Syngnathiformes, together with the sea ...
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Bagridae
The Bagridae are a family of catfish that are native to Africa (''Bagrus'') and Asia (all other genera) from Japan to Borneo. It includes about 245 species. These fish are commonly known as naked catfishes or bagrid catfishes.
Many large bagrids ...
Balitoridae
The hillstream loaches or river loaches are a family, the Balitoridae, of small fish from South, Southeast and East Asia. The family includes about 202 species. They are sometimes sold as "lizardfish" or (in Germany) "flossensaugers". Many of the ...
Bathylagidae
The deep-sea smelts are any members of the family Bathylagidae, a distinct group of marine smelts.
Deep-sea smelts are marine fishes found in deep waters throughout the oceans, down to in depth. They are small fishes, growing up to long. They ...
Batrachoididae
Batrachoididae is the only family in the ray-finned fish order Batrachoidiformes . Members of this family are usually called toadfish, or "frogfish": both the English common name and scientific name refer to their toad-like appearance (''batrakh ...
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Bedotiidae
Bedotiinae are a subfamily of the rainbowfish family (biology), family Melanotaeniidae, commonly known as the Madagascar rainbowfish, Madagascan rainbowfish, or Malagasy rainbowfish due to their endemism to Madagascar. It includes two genus, gene ...
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Belonidae
Needlefish (family Belonidae) or long toms are piscivorous fishes primarily associated with very shallow marine habitats or the surface of the open sea. Some genera include species found in marine, brackish, and freshwater environments (e.g., ...
Berycidae
Berycidae is a small family of deep-sea fishes, related to the squirrelfish
Holocentrinae is a subfamily of Holocentridae containing 40 recognized species and one proposed species. Its members are typically known as squirrelfish and all are n ...
Bramidae
Pomfrets are perciform fishes belonging to the family Bramidae. The family currently includes 20 species across seven genera. Several species are important food sources for humans, especially ''Brama brama'' in South Asia. The earlier form of t ...
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Bregmacerotidae
Codlets are a family, Bregmacerotidae, of cod-like fishes, containing the single genus ''Bregmaceros'' found in tropical and subtropical waters throughout the world. They are very small fishes and even the largest, ''B. lanceolatus'', reaches on ...
Caesionidae
Caesionidae, the fusiliers, are a family of marine ray-finned fishes in the order Perciformes. The family includes about 23 species. They are related to the snappers, but adapted for feeding on plankton, rather than on larger prey. They are fou ...
Callichthyidae
Callichthyidae is a family of catfishes (order Siluriformes), called armored catfishes due to the two rows of bony plates (or scutes) along the lengths of their bodies. It contains some of the most popular freshwater aquarium fish, such as many ...
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Callionymidae
Dragonets are small, percomorph, marine fish of the diverse family Callionymidae (from the Greek ''kallis'', "beautiful" and ', "name") found mainly in the tropical waters of the western Indo-Pacific. They are benthic organisms, spending most o ...
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Callorhinchidae
Chimaeras are cartilaginous fish in the order Chimaeriformes , known informally as ghost sharks, rat fish, spookfish, or rabbit fish; the last three names are not to be confused with rattails, Opisthoproctidae, or Siganidae, respectively.
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Carangidae
The Carangidae are a family of ray-finned fish which includes the jacks, pompanos, jack mackerels, runners, and scads. It is the largest of the six families included within the order Carangiformes. Some authorities classify it as the only family ...
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Carapidae
Pearlfish are marine fish in the ray-finned fish family Carapidae. Pearlfishes inhabit the tropical waters of the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans at depths to , along oceanic shelves and slopes. They are slender, elongated fish with no sca ...
Caristiidae
Caristiidae, the manefishes, are a family of perciform fishes which today includes 19 extant species distributed in four genera. '' Chalcidichthys malacapterygius'' and '' Absalomichthys velifer'' are extinct species from the Upper Miocene of So ...
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Catostomidae
The Catostomidae are the suckers of the order Cypriniformes, with about 78 species in this family of freshwater fishes. The Catostomidae are almost exclusively native to North America. The only exceptions are '' Catostomus catostomus,'' found in ...
Centrarchidae
Centrarchidae, better known as sunfishes, is a family of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the order Perciformes (formerly belonging to the deprecated order Centrarchiformes), native only to North America. There are eight universally i ...
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Centriscidae
The Centriscidae are a family of fishes from the order Syngnathiformes which includes the snipefishes, shrimpfishes, and bellowfishes. A small family, consisting of only about a dozen marine species, they are of an unusual appearance, as refle ...
Cetomimidae
Cetomimidae is a family of small, deep-sea cetomimiform fish. They are among the most deep-living fish known, with some species recorded at depths in excess of . Adults are known as flabby whalefishes while juveniles are known as tapetails and ...
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Cetopsidae
The Cetopsidae are a small family of catfishes ( order Siluriformes), commonly called the whale catfishes.
Taxonomy
This family contains five genera divided into two subfamilies, Cetopsinae and Helogeneinae. Helogeneinae was previously a family ...
Chacidae
''Chaca'' is the only genus in the catfish family Chacidae. These fish are commonly known as squarehead catfishes, frogmouth catfishes, or angler catfishes. These unusual fish have a sedentary lifestyle and spend much of their time motionless.
T ...
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Chaenopsidae
The blennioid family Chaenopsidae includes the pike-blennies, tube-blennies, and flagblennies, all percomorph marine fish in the order Blenniiformes. The family is strictly tropical, ranging from North to South America. Members are also present ...
Channichthyidae
The crocodile icefish or white-blooded fish comprise a family (Channichthyidae) of notothenioid fish found in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica. They are the only known vertebrates to lack hemoglobin in their blood as adults. Icefish populatio ...
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Channidae
The snakeheads are members of the freshwater perciform fish family Channidae, native to parts of Africa and Asia. These elongated, predatory fish are distinguished by their long dorsal fins, large mouths, and shiny teeth. They breathe air with ...
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Characidae
Characidae, the characids or characins is a family of freshwater subtropical and tropical fish, belonging to the order Characiformes. The name "characins" is the historical one, but scientists today tend to prefer "characids" to reflect their ...
Chimaeridae
The Chimaeridae, or short-nosed chimaeras, are a family of cartilaginous fish.
They resemble other chimaeras in general form and habits, but have short, rounded snouts, without the modifications found in related families. Many species have lo ...
Chironemidae
''Chironemus'' is a genus of marine ray finned fish, commonly known as kelpfishes, belonging to the family Chironemidae. They are found in the temperate waters of the Southern Pacific Ocean.
Taxonomy
The Kelpfishes were placed in the monogene ...
Chlopsidae
The Chlopsidae, or false morays, are a family of eels found in coral reefs worldwide. As their name suggests, they somewhat resemble moray eels in appearance. However, they are smaller than true morays, ranging from in length.
Genera
The famil ...
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Chlorophthalmidae
Greeneyes are deep-sea Aulopiformes, aulopiform marine fishes in the small family Chlorophthalmidae. Thought to have a circumglobal distribution in tropical and temperate waters, the family contains just 18 species in two genera. The family name ...
Cirrhitidae
Cirrhitidae, the hawkfishes, are a family of marine perciform ray-finned fishes found in tropical seas and which are associated with coral reefs.
Taxonomy
The Cirrhitidae were first recognised as a family by the Scots-born Australian naturali ...
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Citharidae
The Citharidae or largescale flounders are a small family of flounders with four genera. Three genera are restricted to the Indo-Pacific, while ''Citharus'' is from the Mediterranean and East Atlantic (off northwest Africa). There are a total of ...
Clinidae
Clinidae is a family of marine fish in the order Blenniiformes within the series Ovalentaria, part of the Percomorpha . Temperate blennies, the family ranges from the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, in both the Southern and Northern Hemisph ...
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Clupeidae
Clupeidae is a family of ray-finned fishes, comprising, for instance, the herrings, shads, sardines, hilsa, and menhadens. The clupeoids include many of the most important food fishes in the world, and are also commonly caught for productio ...
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Cobitidae
Cobitidae, also known as the True loaches, is a family of Old World freshwater fish. They occur throughout Eurasia and in Morocco, and inhabit riverine ecosystems. Today, most " loaches" are placed in other families (see below). The family in ...
Congiopodidae
Congiopodidae, commonly known as pigfishes, horsefishes and racehorses, is a family of ray-finned fish classified with in the order Scorpaeniformes. These fishes are native to the Southern Hemisphere.
Taxonomy
Congiopodidae was first formally ...
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Congridae
The Congridae are the family of conger and garden eels. Congers are valuable and often large food fishes, while garden eels live in colonies, all protruding from the sea floor after the manner of plants in a garden (thus the name). The family i ...
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Coryphaenidae
''Coryphaena'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes known as the dolphinfishes, and is currently the only known genus in the family Coryphaenidae. The generic name is from Greek κορυφή (''koryphē'', "crown, top") and -αινα (-''aina'' ...
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Cottidae
The Cottidae are a family of fish in the superfamily Cottoidea, the sculpins. It is the largest sculpin family, with about 275 species in 70 genera.Kane, E. A. and T. E. Higham. (2012)Life in the flow lane: differences in pectoral fin morphology ...
Cranoglanididae
''Cranoglanis'' is the only genus of armorhead catfishes.
Taxonomy
''Cranoglanis bouderius'' was first described as ''Bagrus bouderius'' in 1846 by John Richardson based on a Chinese watercolor painting. Wilhelm Peters later described ''Cranogl ...
Crenuchidae
The Crenuchidae, South American darters, are a family of freshwater fish of the order Characiformes. The 12 genera include about 74 species, though several species are undescribed. These fish are relatively small (usually under in standard le ...
Ctenoluciidae
The Ctenoluciidae (meaning "comb light family"), also known as pike-characins, are a small family of freshwater fishes from Panama and South America.
They have elongated, pike-like bodies, and several sharp and conical teeth. They are relativel ...
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Curimatidae
The Curimatidae, toothless characins, are a family of freshwater fishes, of the order Characiformes. They originate from southern Costa Rica to northern Argentina. The family has around 105 species, many of them frequently exploited for human con ...
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Cyclopteridae
The Cyclopteridae are a family of marine fishes, commonly known as lumpsuckers or lumpfish, in the order Scorpaeniformes. They are found in the cold waters of the Arctic Ocean, Arctic, Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic, and Pacific Ocean, North Paci ...
Cynodontidae
Cynodontidae, also known as dogtooth characins or vampire tetras, are a family of predatory, characiform freshwater fishes from South America. This group is not very diverse, and includes only five genera and 14 species. Most of what is known ab ...
Dactylopteridae
The flying gurnards are a family, Dactylopteridae, of marine fish notable for their greatly enlarged pectoral fins. As they cannot literally fly or glide in the air (like flying fish), an alternative name preferred by some authors is helmet gurna ...
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Dactyloscopidae
Sand stargazers are blennioids; perciform marine fish of the family Dactyloscopidae. Found in temperate to tropical waters of North and South America; some may also inhabit brackish environments. The giant sand stargazer (''Dactylagnus mundus'' ...
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Dalatiidae
The Dalatiidae are the family of kitefin sharks of the order Squaliformes (the term "kitefin shark" also refers specifically to the species '' Dalatias licha''). Members of this family are small, under long, and are found worldwide. They have ci ...
Dichistiidae
''Dichistius'' is a genus of perciform fishes, the galjoen fishes, native to the Atlantic coast of southern Africa (''D. capensis'') and the Indian Ocean coast of southern Africa (''D. multifasciatus''). Growing to lengths of (''D. capensis'') ...
Dinopercidae
The Dinopercidae, known commonly as the cavebasses, are a Family (biology), family of marine (ocean), marine ray-finned fish from the Perciformes, perciform Superfamily (biology), superfamily Percoidea. They are native to the western Indian Ocean ...
Doradidae
The Doradidae are a family of catfishes also known as thorny catfishes, raphael catfishes or talking catfishes. These fish are native to South America, primarily the Amazon basin and the Guianas.
Doradids are omnivorous.
Taxonomy
As of 2007, 3 ...
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Draconettidae
The Draconettidae, slope dragonets, are a small family (about 14 species) of fish in the order Perciformes. They are found in temperate to tropical waters of the Atlantic, Indian and western Pacific Oceans. They are closely related to, and appea ...
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Drepaneidae
''Drepane'' is a genus of fishes known commonly as the sicklefishes. It is the only genus in the perciform fish family Drepaneidae. These fish occur in the Indian and western Pacific Oceans, and in the eastern Atlantic near Africa.
Species
The ...
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Dussumieriidae
Dussumieriidae is a family of clupeiform fishes popularly called the "round herrings". It is now recognized by FishBase as a family in its own right; it had been considered to be a subfamily of Clupeidae. It contains two Extant taxon, extant g ...
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Echeneidae
The remora (), sometimes called suckerfish, is any of a family (Echeneidae) of ray-finned fish in the order Carangiformes. Depending on species, they grow to long. Their distinctive first dorsal fins take the form of a modified oval, sucker-li ...
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Echinorhinidae
''Echinorhinus'' is the only extant genus in the family Echinorhinidae.
Taxonomy
Echinorhinidae are traditionally classified in the order Squaliformes, together with kitefin and gulper sharks.Compagno, 2005. "Sharks of the World". However, a ...
Electrophoridae
The electric eels are a genus, ''Electrophorus'', of Neotropical realm, neotropical freshwater fish from South America in the family Gymnotidae. They are known for their electric fish, ability to stun their prey by generating electricity, deli ...
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Eleginopidae
The Patagonian blennie (''Eleginops maclovinus''), also known as the rock cod, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, belonging to the monotypic family Eleginopidae and monotypic genus ''Eleginops''. It is found in coastal and estuarine habitat ...
Elopidae
The Elopidae are a family of ray-finned fish containing a single living genus '' Elops''. They are commonly known as ladyfish, skipjacks, jack-rashes, or tenpounders.
The ladyfish are a coastal-dwelling fish found throughout the tropical and sub ...
Emmelichthyidae
The Emmelichthyidae are a family of small to medium-sized marine fish known commonly as rovers. The family was once much larger, including a wide range of plankton-eating fish, but most of the genera were discovered to be unrelated examples of p ...
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Engraulidae
An anchovy is a small, common forage fish of the family Engraulidae. Most species are found in marine waters, but several will enter brackish water, and some in South America are restricted to fresh water.
More than 140 species are placed in 1 ...
Erethistidae
Erethistidae are a family of catfishes that originate from southern Asia. It includes about 45 species.
Taxonomy
This family includes species previously placed in Sisoridae. They were removed because they were thought to be more closely related ...
Esocidae
Esocidae is a family of fish in the order Esociformes, which contains pike, pickerel, and mudminnows. While the family traditionally only contained the genus ''Esox'', recent genetic and paleontological research have recovered ''Novumbra'' and ' ...
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Euclichthyidae
The Eucla cod (''Euclichthys polynemus'') is a deepwater marine fish belonging to the cod order ( Gadiformes). It is the only species currently classified in the family Euclichthyidae. It is named after the town of Eucla, Western Australia, in ...
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Eurypharyngidae
The pelican eel (''Eurypharynx pelecanoides'') is a deep-sea eel. It is the only known member of the genus ''Eurypharynx'' and the family Eurypharyngidae. It belongs to the "saccopharyngiforms", members of which were historically placed in the ...
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Evermannellidae
Sabertooth or sabretooth fish are small, fierce-looking deep-sea aulopiform fish comprising the family Evermannellidae. The family is small, with just eight species in three genera represented; they are distributed throughout tropical to subtropi ...
Fistulariidae
The cornetfishes or flutemouths are a small family, the Fistulariidae, of extremely elongated fishes in the order Syngnathiformes. The family consists of a single genus, ''Fistularia'', with four species, found worldwide in tropical and subtropic ...
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Fundulidae
Fundulidae is the family of topminnows and North American killifishes.
Distribution
The 46 species are native to North America as far south as Yucatan, and to the islands of Bermuda and Cuba, occurring in both freshwater and marine environments ...
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Gadidae
The Gadidae are a family of marine fish, included in the order Gadiformes, known as the cods, codfishes, or true cods. It contains several commercially important fishes, including the cod, haddock, whiting, and pollock.
Most gadid species ...
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Galaxiidae
The Galaxiidae are a family of mostly small freshwater fish in the Southern Hemisphere. The majority live in Southern Australia or New Zealand, but some are found in South Africa, southern South America, Lord Howe Island, New Caledonia, and the ...
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Gasteropelecidae
The freshwater hatchetfish are a family, Gasteropelecidae, of ray-finned fish from South and Central America. The common hatchetfish is the most popular member among fish keeping hobbyists. The family includes three genera: '' Carnegiella'' (f ...
Gastromyzontidae
The Gastromyzontidae are a family of loaches native to China and Southeast Asia, where typically found in streams and rivers with a fast current. The family includes about 137 species in eighteen genera
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic ...
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Gempylidae
The Gempylidae are a family of perciform fishes commonly known as snake mackerels or escolars. The family includes about 25 species.
They are elongated fishes with a similar appearance to barracudas, having a long dorsal fin, usually with one or ...
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Geotriidae
''Geotria'' is the only genus in the lamprey family Geotriidae. It has 2 known species: '' Geotria australis'' (pouched lamprey) and '' Geotria macrostoma'' (Argentinian lamprey).
References
Lampreys
Taxa named by John Edward Gray
Fis ...
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Gerreidae
The mojarras are a family, Gerreidae, of fish in the order Perciformes. The family includes about 53 species found worldwide in tropical and warm temperate regions. They mostly inhabit coastal salt and brackish waters, although some occur in fre ...
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Gibberichthyidae
The Gibberichthyidae, also known as gibberfishes, are a small family of deep sea stephanoberyciform fish, containing a single genus, ''Gibberichthys'' (from the Latin ''gibba'', "humpbacked" and the Greek ''ichthys'', "fish"), and two species. F ...
Gobiesocidae
Clingfishes are fishes of the family Gobiesocidae, the only family in the order Gobiesociformes. These fairly small to very small fishes are widespread in tropical and temperate regions, mostly near the coast, but a few species in deeper seas or ...
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Gobiidae
Gobiidae or gobies is a family of bony fish in the order Gobiiformes, one of the largest fish families comprising more than 2,000 species in more than 200 genera. Most of gobiid fish are relatively small, typically less than in length, and the ...
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Gonorynchidae
Gonorynchidae is a family of the Gonorynchiformes which has a number of fossil taxa and one extant genus, '' Gonorynchus'', the beaked salmons.
References
*Sepkoski, Jack (2002). "A compendium of fossil marine animal genera". Bulletins of Ameri ...
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Gonostomatidae
The Gonostomatidae are a family of mesopelagic marine fish, commonly named bristlemouths, lightfishes, or anglemouths. It is a relatively small family, containing only eight known genera and 32 species. However, bristlemouths make up for their ...
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Goodeidae
Goodeidae is a family of teleost fish endemic to Mexico and some areas of the United States. Many species are known as splitfins. This family contains about 50 species within 18 genera. The family is named after ichthyologist George Brown Goode ...
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Grammatidae
Grammatidae is a small family of ray-finned fishes which were formerly placed in the order Perciformes but are now regarded as being ''incertae sedis'' in the subseries Ovalentaria in the clade Percomorpha. They are commonly known as basslets. T ...
Gymnuridae
The butterfly rays are the rays forming the genus ''Gymnura'' and the family Gymnuridae. They are found in warm oceans worldwide, and occasionally in estuaries.
The body of butterfly rays is flattened and surrounded by an extremely broad disc f ...
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Gyrinocheilidae
''Gyrinocheilus'' is the single genus in the family Gyrinocheilidae, a family of small Southeast Asian cypriniform fishes that live in fast-flowing freshwater mountain streams. The species in this genus are commonly called "algae eaters." They ho ...
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Haemulidae
Haemulidae is a family of fishes in the order Perciformes known commonly as grunts. It is made up of the two subfamilies Haemulinae (grunters) and Plectorhynchinae (sweetlips), which in turn contain about 133 species in 19 genera. These fish ar ...
Helostomatidae
Kissing gouramis, also known as kissing fish or kissers (''Helostoma temminckii''), are medium-sized tropical freshwater fish comprising the monotypic labyrinth fish family Helostomatidae (from the Greek ''elos'' tud, nail ''stoma'' outh. These ...
Hemiodontidae
The Hemiodontidae are a small family of freshwater characins found in northern South America, south to the Paraná-Paraguay Basin. The larger species are popular food fish.
Hemiodontids have a streamlined body shape; many are fast-swimming, and ...
Hepsetidae
''Hepsetus'' is a genus of African fishes, the African pikes or African pike characins, in the order Characiformes. It is the sole genus in the family Hepsetidae. It was long believed that only a single widespread species existed, ''H. odoe'', b ...
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Heptapteridae
The Heptapteridae, or three-barbeled catfishes, are a family of catfish that originate from the Americas. Most species are restricted to South America, but ''Imparfinis lineatus'', '' Nemuroglanis panamensis'' and ''Pimelodella chagresi'' are na ...
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Heterenchelyidae
The Heterenchelyidae or mud eels are a small family of eels native to the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and eastern Pacific.
Heterenchelyids are bottom-dwelling fish adapted to burrowing into soft mud. They have large mouths and no pectoral fin
F ...
Heteropneustidae
''Heteropneustes'' is a genus of catfishes, the airsac catfishes, native to Asia. This genus is monotypic.
Their bodies are elongated and compressed with greatly depressed heads. They have long air sacs that serve as lungs that extend from the ...
Hexatrygonidae
The sixgill stingray (''Hexatrygon bickelli'') is a species of stingray and the only extant member of the family Hexatrygonidae. Although several species of sixgill stingrays have been described historically, they may represent variations in a ...
Holocentridae
Holocentridae is a family of ray-finned fish, the only family of the order Holocentriformes. The members of the subfamily Holocentrinae are typically known as squirrelfish, while the members of Myripristinae typically are known as soldierfish.Lie ...
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Hoplichthyidae
''Hoplichthys'', the ghost flatheads, is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes native to the Indian and Pacific Oceans. This genus is the only member of the family Hoplichthyidae.
Taxonomy
Hoplichthys was first proposed as a monotypic genus in 18 ...
Hypoptychidae
The Korean sandlance (''Hypoptychus dybowskii'') is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Hypoptychidae. The Korean sandlance is the only species in this monotypic family and genus and is found in the northwestern Pacific O ...
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Icosteidae
The ragfish (''Icosteus aenigmaticus'') is a ray-finned fish of the northern Pacific Ocean; although a perciform, its skeleton is mostly cartilage, and the larvae have pelvic fins that disappear as they mature. It is the sole member of the family ...
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Ictaluridae
The Ictaluridae, sometimes called ictalurids, are a family of catfish native to North America, where they are an important food source and sometimes fished for sport. The family includes about 51 species, some commonly known as bullheads, madt ...
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Indostomidae
''Indostomus'' is a genus of small fishes native to slow moving or stagnant freshwater habitats in Indochina. It is the sole genus of the monogeneric family Indostomidae, Long considered to be sticklebacks, within the order Gasterosteiformes, mo ...
Kneriidae
The Kneriidae are a small family of freshwater gonorhynchiform fishes native to Africa.
They typically live in fast-flowing highland streams, and are small fish, no more than in length. Some species are sexually dimorphic, with the male posses ...
Kyphosidae
The sea chubs, also known as rudderfish and pilot fish and in Hawaiian as ''enenue'' or ''nenue'', are a family, Kyphosidae, of fishes in the order Perciformes native to the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans usually close to shore in marine w ...
Lamnidae
The Lamnidae are the family of mackerel sharks known as white sharks. They are large, fast-swimming predatory fish found in oceans worldwide, though prefer environments with colder water. The name of the family is formed from the Greek word ''la ...
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Lampridae
Opahs, also commonly known as moonfish, sunfish (not to be confused with Molidae), kingfish, redfin ocean pan are large, colorful, deep-bodied pelagic lampriform fishes comprising the small family Lampridae (also spelled Lamprididae).
The fami ...
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Latimeriidae
Latimeriidae is the only extant family of coelacanths, an ancient lineage of lobe-finned fish. It contains two extant species in the genus ''Latimeria'', found in deep waters off the coasts of southern Africa and east-central Indonesia. In additio ...
Leiognathidae
Leiognathidae, the ponyfishes, slipmouths or slimys / slimies, are a small family of fishes in the order Perciformes. They inhabit marine and brackish waters in the Indian and West Pacific Oceans. They can be used in the preparation of ''bagoong' ...
Lepidosirenidae
Lepidosirenidae is a family of lungfish containing the genera ''Lepidosiren'' (the South American lungfish) and '' Protopterus'' (the African lungfish). Both genera were formerly thought to represent the distinct families Lepidosirenidae and Prot ...
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Lepisosteidae
Gars are members of the family Lepisosteidae, which are the only surviving members of the Ginglymodi, an ancient holosteian group of ray-finned fish, which first appeared during the Triassic, over 240 million years ago. Gars comprise seven livin ...
Leptochariidae
The barbeled houndshark (''Leptocharias smithii'') is a species of ground shark and the only member of the family Leptochariidae. This demersal species is found in the coastal waters of the eastern Atlantic Ocean from Mauritania to Angola, at de ...
Lophotidae
Crestfishes, family Lophotidae, are lampriform fishes found in most oceans. It consists of two extant and four extinct genera.
They are elongated, ribbon-like fishes, silver in color, found in deep tropical and subtropical waters worldwide. Thei ...
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Loricariidae
The Loricariidae is the largest family of catfish (order Siluriformes), with 92 genera and just over 680 species. Loricariids originate from freshwater habitats of Costa Rica, Panama, and tropical and subtropical South America. These fish are not ...
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Lotidae
The Lotidae are a family of cod-like fishes commonly known as lings or rocklings. They are found in the Arctic, Atlantic, and Pacific Oceans. Except for a few species of ''Gaidropsarus'', all are restricted to the Northern Hemisphere. All speci ...
Lutjanidae
Lutjanidae, or snappers are a family of perciform fish, mainly marine, but with some members inhabiting estuaries, feeding in fresh water. The family includes about 113 species. Some are important food fish. One of the best known is the red snapp ...
Macrouridae
Macrouridae is a family of deep sea fish, a diverse and ecologically important group, which are part of the order of cod-like fish, the Gadiformes. The species in the Macrouridae are characterised by their large heads which normally have a sing ...
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Malacanthidae
250px, Blue blanquillo, ''Malacanthus latovittatus''
Tilefishes are mostly small perciform marine fish comprising the family Malacanthidae. They are usually found in sandy areas, especially near coral reefs.
Commercial fisheries exist for th ...
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Malapteruridae
Electric catfish or Malapteruridae is a family of catfishes (order Siluriformes). This family includes two genera, '' Malapterurus'' and '' Paradoxoglanis'', with 21 species. Several species of this family have the ability to generate electricit ...
Megachasmidae
''Megachasma'' is a genus of sharks. It is usually considered to be the sole genus in the distinct family Megachasmidae, though suggestion has been made that it may belong in the family Cetorhinidae, of which the basking shark is currently the s ...
Megalopidae
Tarpons are fish of the genus ''Megalops''. They are the only members of the family Megalopidae. Of the two species, one (''M. atlanticus'') is native to the Atlantic, and the other (''M. cyprinoides'') to the Indo-Pacific Oceans.
Species and ...
Melanonidae
''Melanonus'' is a genus of gadiform fishes containing just two species of cod-like marine fishes. This is the only genus in the family Melanonidae.
Both species are small fish, no more than in length, and are black in colour. They live in t ...
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Melanotaeniidae
The rainbowfish or Melanotaeniidae is a family of small, colourful freshwater fish found in northern and eastern Australia, New Guinea (including islands in Cenderawasih Bay and Raja Ampat Islands in Indonesia), Sulawesi and Madagascar.
The ...
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Menidae
The moonfish of the genus ''Mene'', the sole extant genus of the family Menidae, are disk-shaped fish which bear a vague resemblance to gourami, thanks to their thread-like pelvic fins. Today, the genus is represented only by ''Mene maculata'' ...
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Merlucciidae
The Merlucciidae, commonly called merluccid hakes , are a family of cod-like fish, including most hakes. available for download at http://www.fao.org
They are native to cold water in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and typically are found at de ...
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Microdesmidae
The Microdesmidae, the wormfishes and dartfishes, were a family of goby-like fishes in the order Gobiiformes, more recent workers have placed this taxon within the Gobiidae, although the researchers do not define the taxonomic status of this gr ...
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Microstomatidae
The Microstomatidae (pencil smelts) are a family of marine smelts native to the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in t ...
Mochokidae
The Mochokidae are a family of catfishes (order Siluriformes) that are known as the squeakers and upside-down catfish (although not all species swim upside-down). There are nine genera and about 200 species of mochokids. All the mochokids are fre ...
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Molidae
The Molidae comprise the family of the molas or ocean sunfishes, unusual fish whose bodies come to an end just behind the dorsal and anal fins, giving them a "half-fish" appearance. They are also the largest of the ray-finned bony fish, with th ...
Moridae
The Moridae are a family of cod-like fishes, known as codlings, hakelings, and moras.
Morids are marine fishes found throughout the world, and may be found at depths to , although most prefer shallower waters. In appearance, they greatly resemb ...
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Moringuidae
The Moringuidae are a small family of eels commonly known as spaghetti eels or worm eels, although the latter name is also shared with other families of eels.
Moringuid eels are found in shallow tropical waters worldwide. They range from about ...
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Mormyridae
The Mormyridae, sometimes called "elephantfish" (more properly freshwater elephantfish), are a family of weakly electric freshwater fish in the order Osteoglossiformes native to Africa. It is by far the largest family in the order with around 2 ...
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Moronidae
The Moronidae are a family of perciform fishes, commonly called the temperate basses, consisting of at least six freshwater, brackish water, and marine species. Many members of this family are anadromous. Description
These fishes reach 45 cm to ...
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Mugilidae
The mullets or grey mullets are a family (Mugilidae) of ray-finned fish found worldwide in coastal temperate and tropical waters, and some species in fresh water. Mullets have served as an important source of food in Mediterranean Europe since R ...
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Mullidae
The goatfishes are perciform fish of the family Mullidae. The family is also sometimes referred to as the red mullets, which also refers more narrowly to the genus '' Mullus''.
The family name and the English common name mullet derived from La ...
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Muraenesocidae
The Muraenesocidae, or pike congers, are a small family of marine eels found worldwide in tropical and subtropical seas. Some species are known to enter brackish water.
Pike congers have cylindrical bodies, scaleless skin, narrow heads with large ...
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Muraenidae
Moray eels, or Muraenidae (), are a family of eels whose members are found worldwide. There are approximately 200 species in 15 genera which are almost exclusively marine, but several species are regularly seen in brackish water, and a few are f ...
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Muraenolepididae
The Muraenolepididae is a family of cod-like fish, known as eel cods, found in southern oceans.
References
Gadiformes
{{Gadiformes-stub ...
Myrocongridae
''Myroconger'' is the only genus of eel
Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the ear ...
Nematistiidae
The roosterfish, ''Nematistius pectoralis'', is a game fish found in the warmer waters of the East Pacific from Baja California to Peru. It is the only species in the genus ''Nematistius'' and the family Nematistiidae. It is distinguished by its ...
Nemichthyidae
Snipe eels are a family, Nemichthyidae, of eels that consists of nine species in three genera. They are pelagic fishes, found in every ocean, mostly at depths of but sometimes as deep as . Depending on the species, adults may reach in length, y ...
Nettastomatidae
Nettastomatidae, the duckbill eels or witch eels are a family of eels. The name is from Greek ''netta'' meaning "duck" and ''stoma'' meaning "mouth".
Duckbill eels are found along the continental slopes of tropical and temperate oceans worldwid ...
Notacanthidae
Notacanthidae, the deep-sea spiny eels, are a family of fishes found worldwide below , and as deep as . The earliest known spiny eel is ''Pronotacanthus sahelalmae'', from the Santonian of what is now Lebanon.
Their bodies are greatly elongated ...
Notopteridae
The family Notopteridae contains 10 species of osteoglossiform (bony-tongued) fishes, commonly known as featherbacks and knifefishes. These fishes live in freshwater or brackish environments in Africa and South and Southeast Asia.
With the denot ...
Nototheniidae
: ''In some scientific literature, the term "cod icefish" is used to identify members of this family. This should not be confused with the term "icefish," which refers to the "white-blooded" fishes of the family Channichthyidae. See Icefish (disam ...
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Odacidae
The Odacidae are a small family of ray-finned fishes formerly classified within the order Perciformes, commonly known as cales, and weed whitings. They are related to the much larger families of the wrasses and parrotfish. More recent workers ha ...
Ogcocephalidae
Ogcocephalidae is a family of anglerfish specifically adapted for a benthic lifestyle of crawling about on the seafloor. Ogcocephalid anglerfish are sometimes referred to as batfishes,Olyridae
* Omosudidae
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Oneirodidae
The dreamers are a family, Oneirodidae, of deep-sea anglerfishes in the order Lophiiformes. They are the largest and most diverse group of deep-sea anglerfish, and also the least well known with 16 genera represented by only one, two, or three ...
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Ophichthidae
Ophichthidae is a family of fish in the order Anguilliformes, commonly known as the snake eels. The term "Ophichthidae" comes from Greek ''ophis'' ("serpent") and ''ichthys'' ("fish"). Snake eels are also burrowing eels. They are named for thei ...
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Ophidiidae
The cusk-eel family, Ophidiidae, is a group of marine bony fishes in the Ophidiiformes order. The scientific name is from the Greek ''ophis'' meaning "snake", and refers to their eel-like appearance. True eels, however, diverged from other ray- ...
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Opisthoproctidae
Barreleyes, also known as spook fish (a name also applied to several species of chimaera), are small deep-sea argentiniform fish comprising the family Opisthoproctidae found in tropical-to-temperate waters of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian ...
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Opistognathidae
Opistognathidae, the jawfishes, are a family of fishes which have been classified within the order Perciformes, suborder Percoidei but many authorities now classify this family within the clade Ovalentaria and consider that its affinities within ...
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Oplegnathidae
''Oplegnathus'' is currently the sole recognized genus in the knifejaw family (Oplegnathidae) of marine perciform fishes. The largest, the Cape knifejaw, can reach a maximum length around 90 cm (35 in). Knifejaws have teeth fused int ...
Osteoglossidae
Osteoglossidae is a family of large freshwater fish, which includes the arowanas and arapaima. The family contains two subfamilies Arapaiminae and Osteoglossinae, with a total of five living genera.
Osteoglossids are basal teleosts that origin ...
Parabrotulidae
The Parabrotulidae, the false brotulas, are a small family of bathypelagic cusk eels that currently contains two genera. The species in this family are known from the northwest Pacific Ocean and the northeast Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic ...
Parazenidae
Parazenidae is a family (biology), family of zeiform fishes found in the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
References
Zeiformes
Ray-finned fish families
{{Zeiformes-stub ...
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Parodontidae
The Parodontidae are a family of fresh water fish of the order Characiformes. The three genera include about 32 species, though several are undescribed. These fish are generally benthic and live in mountain streams of eastern Panama and South Am ...
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Pataecidae
The Australian prowfishes are a small family, the Pataecidae, of ray-finned fishes classified within the order Scorpaeniformes. Australian prowfishes are distinguished by a long dorsal fin that begins far forward on the head, forming a "prow" s ...
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Pegasidae
The seamoths make up a family of fishes, the Pegasidae, within the order Syngnathiformes. They are named for Pegasus, a creature from Greek mythology. Seamoths are notable for their unusual appearance, including flattened bodies, the presence o ...
Percichthyidae
The members of the family Percichthyidae are known as the temperate perches. They belong to the order Perciformes, the perch-like fishes.
The name Percichthyidae derives from the Latin ''perca'' for perch and Ancient Greek ἰχθύς, ''ichthy ...
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Percidae
The Percidae are a family of ray-finned fish, part of the order Perciformes, which are found in fresh and brackish waters of the Northern Hemisphere. The majority are Nearctic, but there are also Palearctic species. The family contains more ...
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Perciliidae
''Percilia'' is a genus of perch-like fish in the monogeneric family Perciliidae.
Species
The genus ''Percilia'' currently contains these two species which are endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geogr ...
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Percophidae
The Percophidae, duckbills, are a family of percomorph fishes, from the order Trachiniformes, found in tropical and subtropical waters of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans and in the southwestern and southeastern Pacific.
They are small fishes: the ...
Petromyzontidae
The northern lampreys (Petromyzontidae) are a family of lampreys. Northern lampreys have the highest number of chromosomes (164–174) among vertebrates.
Genera
* '' Caspiomyzon''
* '' Entosphenus''
* ''Eudontomyzon''
* ''Ichthyomyzon''
* ''La ...
Phosichthyidae
Lightfishes are small stomiiform fishes in the family Phosichthyidae
The earliest fossils of lightfishes are from Oligocene-aged Paratethyan marine strata in the Czech Republic.
They are very small fishes found in oceans throughout the world: ...
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Phractolaemidae
The hingemouth (''Phractolaemus ansorgii'') is a small freshwater fish that is found only in west central Africa, the sole member of the subfamily Phractolaeminae of the family Kneriidae.
The mouth can extend like a small trunk, thus the name, ...
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Phycidae
The Phycidae are a family of hakes in the order Gadiformes. They are native to the Atlantic Ocean, but the juveniles of some species enter estuaries.
Sometimes this family is classified as the subfamily Phycinae of the cod family, Gadidae
Th ...
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Pimelodidae
The Pimelodidae, commonly known as the long-whiskered catfishes, are a family of catfishes ( order Siluriformes).
Taxonomy
The family Pimelodidae has undergone much revision. Currently, it contains about 30 genera and about 90 recognized and kn ...
Plesiobatidae
The deepwater stingray or giant stingaree (''Plesiobatis daviesi'') is a species of stingray and the sole member of the family Plesiobatidae. It is widely distributed in the Indo-Pacific, typically over fine sediments on the upper continental ...
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Plesiopidae
The longfins, also known as roundheads or spiny basslets, are a family, Plesiopidae, which were formerly placed in the order Perciformes but are now regarded as being ''incertae sedis'' in the subseries Ovalentaria in the clade Percomorpha. They ...
Poeciliidae
The Poeciliidae are a family of freshwater fishes of the order Cyprinodontiformes, the tooth-carps, and include well-known live-bearing aquarium fish, such as the guppy, molly, platy, and swordtail. The original distribution of the family was t ...
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Polycentridae
Leaffishes are small fishes of the family Polycentridae. According to FishBase, it only includes the genera '' Monocirrhus'' and '' Polycentrus'' from fresh and brackish water in tropical South America. Although included in the Asian leaffish fa ...
Polyprionidae
The wreckfish are a family, Polyprionidae in the suborder Percoidei of the order Perciformes.
They are deep-water marine fish and can be found on the ocean bottom, where they inhabit caves and shipwrecks (thus their common name). Their scientifi ...
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Polypteridae
Bichirs and the reedfish comprise Polypteridae , a family of archaic ray-finned fishes and the only family in the order Polypteriformes .Helfman GS, Collette BB, Facey DE, Bowen BW. 2009. The Diversity of Fishes. West Sussex, UK: Blackwell Pub ...
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Pomacanthidae
Marine angelfish are perciform fish of the family Pomacanthidae. They are found on shallow reefs in the tropical Atlantic, Indian, and mostly western Pacific Oceans. The family contains seven genera and about 86 species. They should not be conf ...
Potamotrygonidae
River stingrays or freshwater stingrays are Neotropical freshwater fishes of the family Potamotrygonidae in the order Myliobatiformes, one of the four orders of batoids, cartilaginous fishes related to sharks. They are found in rivers in tropic ...
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Priacanthidae
The Priacanthidae, the bigeyes, are a family of 18 species of marine ray-finned fishes. " Catalufa" is an alternate common name for some members of the Priacanthidae. The etymology of the scientific name (, to bite + , thorn) refers to the fam ...
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Pristidae
Sawfish, also known as carpenter sharks, are a family of rays characterized by a long, narrow, flattened rostrum, or nose extension, lined with sharp transverse teeth, arranged in a way that resembles a saw. They are among the largest fish ...
Prochilodontidae
The Prochilodontidae, or flannel-mouthed characins, are a small family of freshwater fishes found primarily in the northern half of South America, south to Paraguay and northern Argentina. This family is closely related to the Curimatidae, and i ...
Proscylliidae
The finback catsharks are a small family, the Proscylliidae, of ground sharks. They can be found in warm seas worldwide and are often the most numerous and common shark in tropical regions. They are generally less than 1 m in length, and are slow ...
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Protopteridae
''Protopterus'' is the genus of four species of lungfish found in Africa. ''Protopterus'' was formerly thought to be the sole genus in the family Protopteridae, but more recent studies have classified it with ''Lepidosiren'' in the family Lepid ...
Pseudaphritidae
The congoli (''Pseudaphritis urvillii''), also known as the freshwater flathead, marble fish, marbled flathead, sand trout, sanding, sandy, sandy whiting or tupong. is a species of marine ray-finned fish and it is the only species of fish in t ...
Pseudotriakidae
The Pseudotriakidae are a small family of ground sharks, belonging to the order Carcharhiniformes, containing the false catsharks (genera '' Pseudotriakis'' and '' Planonasus'') and gollumsharks (genus ''Gollum''). It contains the only ground s ...
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Pseudotrichonotidae
''Pseudotrichonotus'' is a genus of fish in the family Pseudotrichonotidae native to the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean. This genus is the only member of its family (biology), family.
Species
There are currently 4 recognized species in t ...
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Psilorhynchidae
''Psilorhynchus'' is a genus of fish in the family ''Psilorhynchidae'' native to South Asia. This genus is the only member of its family. The members of ''Psilorhynchus'' are small benthic fishes which occur in rivers and streams with fast to swi ...
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Psychrolutidae
The fish family Psychrolutidae (commonly known as blobfishes, toadfishes, flathead sculpins, tadpole sculpins,) contains over 35 recognized species in 8 genera. This family consists of bottom-dwelling marine sculpins shaped like tadpoles, with l ...
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Ptereleotridae
Dartfishes are a group of fish, formerly considered to be a subfamily, Ptereleotrinae, of goby-like fishes in the family Microdesmidae of the order Gobiiformes, Authorities now consider the species in the family Microdesmidae are within the Gob ...
Rachycentridae
''Rachycentron'' is the only known member genus of the family Rachycentridae. The genus contains a single living species, the cobia
The cobia (''Rachycentron canadum'') is a species of carangiform marine fish, the only extant representative ...
Regalecidae
Oarfish are huge, greatly elongated, pelagic lampriform fish belonging to the small family (biology), family Regalecidae. Found in areas spanning from Temperate climate, temperate ocean zones to tropical ones, yet rarely seen, the oarfish famil ...
Rhincodontidae
The whale shark (''Rhincodon typus'') is a slow-moving, filter-feeding carpet shark and the largest known extant fish species. The largest confirmed individual had a length of .McClain CR, Balk MA, Benfield MC, Branch TA, Chen C, Cosgrove J, D ...
Rhinochimaeridae
The Rhinochimaeridae, commonly known as long-nosed chimaeras, are a family of cartilaginous fish. They are similar in form and habits to other chimaeras, but have an exceptionally long conical or paddle-shaped snout. The snout has numerous sens ...
Rivulidae
The Rivulidae are a family of killifishes in the order Cyprinodontiformes. They are commonly known as rivulids, South American killifish or New World killifish. The latter names are slightly misleading, however, as they are neither restricted to ...
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Rondeletiidae
The redmouth whalefishes are two species of deep-sea whalefishes in the genus ''Rondeletia'', the only genus in the family Rondeletiidae. They are apparently close to the velvet whalefish (''Barbourisia rufa''), and apparently also to the gibb ...
Salangidae
Salangidae, the icefishes or noodlefishes, are a family of small osmeriform fish, related to the smelts. They are found in Eastern Asia, ranging from the Russian Far East in the north to Vietnam in the south, with the highest species richness ...
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Salmonidae
Salmonidae is a family of ray-finned fish that constitutes the only currently extant family in the order Salmoniformes . It includes salmon (both Atlantic and Pacific species), trout (both ocean-going and landlocked), chars, freshwater whitefis ...
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Samaridae
Samaridae (''Samariscus corallines'') is a family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to mainta ...
Scatophagidae
Scatophagidae, the scats are a small family of ray-finned fishes in the order Perciformes. They are found in the Indo-Pacific region but one species has been introduced elsewhere.
Taxonomy
Scatophagidae was first formally described as a family ...
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Schilbeidae
Schilbeidae is a family of catfishes native to Africa and Asia. These fish tend to swim in open water.
Schilbid catfishes usually have dorsal fins with a short base and a spine, but '' Parailia'' lack a dorsal fin altogether. Most species also ...
Sciaenidae
Sciaenidae are a family of fish in the order Acanthuriformes. They are commonly called drums or croakers in reference to the repetitive throbbing or drumming sounds they make. The family consists of about 286 to 298 species in about 66 to 70 gene ...
Scomberesocidae
Sauries are fish of the family Scomberesocidae. There are two genera, each containing two species. The name Scomberesocidae is derived from the ''scomber'', which in turn is derived from the Greek ''skombros'', meaning "mackerel", and the Latin ...
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Scombridae
The mackerel, tuna, and bonito family, Scombridae, includes many of the most important and familiar food fishes. The family consists of 51 species in 15 genera and two subfamilies. All species are in the subfamily Scombrinae, except the butterf ...
Scombropidae
The gnomefishes form a small family, Scombropidae, consisting of three extant species of marine fish in the genus ''Scombrops''. They have two dorsal fins and are notable for scales covering the soft parts of the dorsal and anal fins. The eyes ...
Scophthalmidae
The Scophthalmidae are a family of flatfish found in the North Atlantic Ocean, Baltic Sea, Mediterranean Sea, and Black Sea.Chanet, B. (2003)Interrelationships of scophthalmid fishes (Pleuronectiformes: Scopththalmidae).''Cybium'' 27(4) 275-86. ...
Sebastidae
Sebastinae is a subfamily of marine fish belonging to the family Scorpaenidae in the order Scorpaeniformes. Their common names include rockfishes, rock perches, ocean perches, sea perches, thornyheads, scorpionfishes, sea ruffes and rockcods. De ...
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Serranidae
The Serranidae are a large family of fishes belonging to the order Perciformes. The family contains about 450 species in 65 genera, including the sea basses and the groupers (subfamily Epinephelinae). Although many species are small, in some ca ...
Serrivomeridae
Sawtooth eels are a family, Serrivomeridae, of eels found in temperate and tropical seas worldwide.
Sawtooth eels get their name from the human-like arrangement of inward-slanting teeth attached to the vomer bone in the roof of the mouth. They ...
Siluridae
Siluridae is the nominate family of catfishes in the order Siluriformes. About 105 living species of silurids are placed in 12 or 14 genera.
Although silurids occur across much of Europe and Asia, they are most diverse in Southeast Asia, beyond ...
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Sisoridae
Sisoridae is a family of catfishes. These Asian catfishes live in fast-moving waters and often have adaptations that allow them to adhere to objects in their habitats. The family includes about 235 species.
Taxonomy
The family Sisoridae is recog ...
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Soleidae
The true soles are a family, Soleidae, of flatfishes. It includes saltwater and brackish water species in the East Atlantic, Indian Ocean, and West and Central Pacific Ocean. Freshwater species are found in Africa, southern Asia, New Guinea, and ...
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Solenostomidae
''Solenostomus'', also known as the ghost pipefishes, false pipefishes or tubemouth fishes, is a genus of fishes in the order Syngnathiformes. ''Solenostomus'' is the only genus in the family Solenostomidae, and includes six currently recognized ...
Sphyraenidae
A barracuda, or cuda for short, is a large, predatory, ray-finned fish known for its fearsome appearance and ferocious behaviour. The barracuda is a saltwater fish of the genus ''Sphyraena'', the only genus in the family Sphyraenidae, which was ...
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 sh ...
Stomiidae
Stomiidae is a family of deep-sea ray-finned fish, including the barbeled dragonfishes. They are quite small, usually around 15 cm, up to 26 cm. These fish are apex predators and have enormous jaws filled with fang-like teeth. They are ...
Syngnathidae
The Syngnathidae is a family of fish which includes seahorses, pipefishes, and seadragons (''Phycodurus'' and '' Phyllopteryx''). The name is derived from grc, σύν (), meaning "together", and (), meaning "jaw". The fused jaw is one of the t ...
Terapontidae
Grunters or tigerperches are ray-finned fishes in the family Terapontidae (also spelled Teraponidae, Theraponidae or Therapontidae). This family is part of the superfamily Percoidea of the order Perciformes.
Characteristics
The Terapontidae i ...
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Tetrabrachiidae
Tetrabrachiidae, or the four-armed frogfishes, is a family of anglerfishes found in relatively shallow waters of the eastern Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean reaching from Indonesia and New Guinea to Australia
Australia, officiall ...
Tetraodontidae
Tetraodontidae is a family of primarily marine and estuarine fish of the order Tetraodontiformes. The family includes many familiar species variously called pufferfish, puffers, balloonfish, blowfish, blowies, bubblefish, globefish, swellfis ...
Thaumatichthyidae
Thaumatichthyidae, the wolftrap anglers, is a small family of deep-sea anglerfishes, containing two genera and eight species found in all oceans. They are commonly known as wolftrap anglers or wolftrap seadevils because of their distinctive uppe ...
Toxotidae
The archerfish (spinner fish or archer fish) form a monotypic family, Toxotidae, of fish known for their habit of preying on land-based insects and other small animals by shooting them down with water droplets from their specialized mouths. The ...
Trichomycteridae
Trichomycteridae is a family of catfishes commonly known as pencil catfishes or parasitic catfishes. This family includes the candiru fish (''Vandellia cirrhosa''), feared by some people for its alleged habit of entering into the urethra of hum ...
Triglidae
Triglidae, commonly known as gurnards or sea robins, are a family of bottom-feeding scorpaeniform ray-finned fish. The gurnards are distributed in temperate and tropical seas worldwide.
Taxonomy
Triglidae was first described as a family in 181 ...
Umbridae
Umbridae is a family of fish in the order Esociformes, which contains pike, pickerel, and mudminnows. The single living genus, ''Umbra'', occupies weed-choked freshwater habitats in eastern North America and eastern Europe. While the family trad ...
Urolophidae
The Urolophidae are a family of rays in the order Myliobatiformes, commonly known as stingarees or round stingrays. This family formerly included the genera '' Urobatis'' and '' Urotrygon'' of the Americas, which are presently recognized as formi ...
Xiphiidae
Swordfish (''Xiphias gladius''), also known as broadbills in some countries, are large, highly migratory predatory fish characterized by a long, flat, pointed bill. They are a popular sport fish of the billfish category, though elusive. Swordf ...
Zeidae
The Zeidae (named after Zeus, the supreme god of Greek mythology) are a family of large, showy, deep-bodied zeiform marine fish—the "true dories". Found in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans, the family contains just six species in tw ...
Zoarcidae
The eelpouts are the ray-finned fish family Zoarcidae. As the common name suggests, they are somewhat eel-like in appearance. All of the roughly 300 species are marine and mostly bottom-dwelling, some at great depths. Eelpouts are predominantly ...
See also
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fish Families
Families
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideal ...