The Beryciformes are a poorly-understood

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 ...

of carnivorous

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 consisting of 7 families, 30 genera, and 161 species. They feed on small

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 ...

and

invertebrates 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 chordate subphylum ...

. Beyond this, little is known about the biology of most member species because of their nocturnal habits and deepwater habitats. All beryciform species are marine and most live in

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

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 ...

, deepwater environments. Most live on the

continental shelf A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an islan ...

and

continental slope A continental margin is the outer edge of continental crust abutting oceanic crust under coastal waters. It is one of the three major zones of the ocean floor, the other two being deep-ocean basins and mid-ocean ridges. The continental margi ...

, with some species being found as deep as . Some species move closer to the surface at night, while others live entirely in shallow water and are

nocturnal Nocturnality is a ethology, behavior in some non-human animals characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnality, diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatur ...

, hiding in rock crevices and caves during the day. Several species are

mesopelagic The mesopelagic zone (Greek language, Greek μέσον, middle), also known as the middle pelagic or twilight zone, is the part of the pelagic zone that lies between the photic epipelagic and the aphotic bathypelagic zones. It is defined by light ...

and

bathypelagic The bathypelagic zone or bathyal zone (from Greek βαθύς (bathýs), deep) is the part of the open ocean that extends from a depth of below the ocean surface. It lies between the mesopelagic above and the abyssopelagic below. The bathypela ...

. Beryciformes' bodies are deep and mildly compressed, typically with large eyes that help them see in darker waters. Colors range from red to yellow and brown to black, and sizes range from . Member

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 ...

include the alfonsinos, squirrelfishes, pricklefishes, and whalefishes. A number of member species are caught commercially, including the alfonsino and the splendid alfonsino.

Taxonomy

Beryciforms first appeared 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 ...

period and have survived to today in relative abundance. They are considered the most primitive order in

Acanthopterygii Acanthopterygii (meaning "spiny-finned one") is a superorder of teleost, bony fishes in the class Actinopterygii. Members of this superorder are sometimes called ray-finned fishes for the characteristic sharp, bony rays in their fins; however th ...

, and as such are split off at the base of the

cladogram A cladogram (from Greek language, Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an Phylogenetic tree, evolutionary tree because it does not s ...

below from the rest of the member orders. Beryciforms are distinguished by having 18–19

caudal 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 ...

rays, as opposed to percomorphs, which have 17. Having fewer caudal fin rays is considered a sign of a more recently evolved species among fish.

Classification

The following classification is based on ''

Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes Catalog of Fishes is a comprehensive on-line database and reference work on the scientific names of fish species and genera. It is global in its scope and is hosted by the California Academy of Sciences. It has been compiled and is continuously up ...

'': * Order Beryciformes ** Suborder Holocentroidei *** Family

Holocentridae Holocentridae is a family of ray-finned fish, the only family of the suborder Holocentroidei and the only family of the order Holocentriformes. The members of the subfamily Holocentrinae are typically known as squirrelfish, while the members of ...

Bonaparte, 1833 (soldierfishes & squirrelfishes) ** Suborder Berycoidei *** Family Berycidae Lowe, 1839 (alfonsinos & nannygais) *** Family Melamphaidae

Gill A gill () is a respiration organ, respiratory organ that many aquatic ecosystem, aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow r ...

, 1893 (bigscale fishes) **Suborder Stephanoberycoidei ***Family

Stephanoberycidae Stephanoberycidae, the pricklefishes are a family of fishes in the order Beryciformes. They are found in tropical and subtropical waters of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and to the Indian Ocean off the coast of South Africa. They are deep-w ...

Gill, 1884 (pricklefishes) ***Family

Hispidoberycidae ''Hispidoberyx ambagiosus'', the bristlyskin, is a species of spiny-scale pricklefish found in the Indian and Pacific Oceans at depths from . This species grows to standard length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and vario ...

Kotlyar, 1981 (spiny-scale pricklefishes) ***Family Gibberichthyidae Parr, 1933 (gibberfishes) *** Family

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 gibber ...

Goode &

Bean A bean is the seed of some plants in the legume family (Fabaceae) used as a vegetable for human consumption or animal feed. The seeds are often preserved through drying (a ''pulse''), but fresh beans are also sold. Dried beans are traditi ...

, 1895 (redmouth whalefishes) *** Family Barbourisiidae Parr, 1945 (red/velvet whalefishes) *** Family Cetomimidae Goode & Bean, 1895 (flabby whalefishes) In the past, the

Trachichthyiformes The Trachichthyiformes are an order of ray-finned fishes in the superorder Acanthopterygii. Fossils of this group date back to the Cenomanian. Member genera include the flashlight fishes, fangtooth fishes, spinyfins, pineconefishes, redfishes, ...

and Polymixiiformes were also placed within this order. However, such a classification is now known to be

paraphyletic Paraphyly is a taxonomic term describing a grouping that consists of the grouping's last common ancestor and some but not all of its descendant lineages. The grouping is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In co ...

Phylogeny

A recent phylogeny based on the work Betancur-Rodriguez ''et al.'' 2017. The Gibberichthyidae (gibberfishes) and

(spiny-scale pricklefish) of suborder Stephanoberycoidei were not examined.

Human interaction

The Beryciformes are generally not important to humans, and their trend towards living in deeper waters generally keeps many species away from human activity. Several species are found in the aquarium trade, however. Pineapplefishes are of interest to fishkeepers for their bright colors, while squirrelfishes' shallower reef habitats and bright red colors make them more easily collected. Flashlight fishes are also kept as pets because of the bioluminescent organs underneath their eyes. The alfonsinos and orange roughy are of a different interest to humans, targeted by deepwater commercial fisheries. Increased catches could lead to steep population declines for these species as their extended lifespans make them vulnerable to

overfishing Overfishing is the removal of a species of fish (i.e. fishing) from a body of water at a rate greater than that the species can replenish its population naturally (i.e. the overexploitation of the fishery's existing Fish stocks, fish stock), resu ...

. The orange roughy, for example, can live up to 149 years, but takes anywhere from 23 to 40 years to begin reproducing.Managing risk and uncertainty in deep-sea fisheries: lessons from Orange Roughy
/ref> Despite these risks, most of the species that have been evaluated by the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...

(IUCN) are listed as

Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...

Data Deficient A data deficient (DD) species is one which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as offering insufficient information for a proper assessment of conservation status to be made. This does not necessaril ...

; only a few are classified as Vulnerable.

Timeline of genera

The Beryciformes first appeared in the Late Cretaceous and still survive today in relative abundance. ImageSize = width:1000px height:auto barincrement:15px PlotArea = left:10px bottom:50px top:10px right:10px Period = from:-145.5 till:15 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:NAM20 bar:NAM21 bar:NAM22 bar:NAM23 bar:NAM24 bar:NAM25 bar:NAM26 bar:NAM27 bar:NAM28 bar:NAM29 bar:NAM30 bar:NAM31 bar:NAM32 bar:NAM33 bar:NAM34 bar:NAM35 bar:NAM36 bar:NAM37 bar:NAM38 bar:NAM39 bar:NAM40 bar:NAM41 bar:NAM42 bar:NAM43 bar:NAM44 bar:NAM45 bar:NAM46 bar:NAM47 bar:NAM48 bar:NAM49 bar:NAM50 bar:NAM51 bar:NAM52 bar:NAM53 bar:NAM54 bar:NAM55 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:-93.5 text: Cryptoberyx color:latecretaceous bar:NAM2 from:-99.6 till:-93.5 text: Judeoberyx color:latecretaceous bar:NAM3 from:-99.6 till:-93.5 text: Libanoberyx color:latecretaceous bar:NAM4 from:-99.6 till:-93.5 text: Lissoberyx color:latecretaceous bar:NAM5 from:-99.6 till:-93.5 text: Lobopterus color:latecretaceous bar:NAM6 from:-99.6 till:-93.5 text: Pattersonoberyx color:latecretaceous bar:NAM7 from:-99.6 till:-93.5 text: Plesioberyx color:latecretaceous bar:NAM8 from:-99.6 till:-93.5 text: Stichoberyx color:latecretaceous bar:NAM9 from:-99.6 till:-93.5 text: Stichocentrus color:latecretaceous bar:NAM10 from:-99.6 till:-93.5 text: Stichopteryx color:latecretaceous bar:NAM11 from:-99.6 till:-83.5 text: Trachichythyoides color:latecretaceous bar:NAM12 from:-99.6 till:-70.6 text: Hoplopteryx color:latecretaceous bar:NAM13 from:-95.5 till:-93.5 text: Pycnosteroides color:latecretaceous bar:NAM14 from:-93.5 till:-89.3 text: Adriacentrus color:latecretaceous bar:NAM15 from:-93.5 till:-89.3 text: Erugocentrus color:latecretaceous bar:NAM16 from:-93.5 till:-83.5 text: Caproberyx color:latecretaceous bar:NAM17 from:-85.8 till:-83.5 text: Alloberyx color:latecretaceous bar:NAM18 from:-85.8 till:-83.5 text: Ctenocephalichthys color:latecretaceous bar:NAM20 from:-85.8 till:-83.5 text: Dinopteryx color:latecretaceous bar:NAM21 from:-85.8 till:-83.5 text: Gnathoberyx color:latecretaceous bar:NAM22 from:-85.8 till:-83.5 text: Inocentrus color:latecretaceous bar:NAM23 from:-85.8 till:-83.5 text: Kansius color:latecretaceous bar:NAM24 from:-85.8 till:-83.5 text: Parospinus color:latecretaceous bar:NAM25 from:-85.8 till:-70.6 text: Acrogaster color:latecretaceous bar:NAM26 from:-74.9 till:-70.6 text: Tubantia color:paleocene bar:NAM27 from:-65.5 till:-61.6 text: Iridopristis color:paleocene bar:NAM28 from:-65.5 till:0 text: Centroberyx color:paleocene bar:NAM29 from:-65.5 till:0 text: Ctenoberyx color:eocene bar:NAM30 from:-55.8 till:-48.6 text: Argilloberyx color:eocene bar:NAM31 from:-55.8 till:-48.6 text: Naupygus color:eocene bar:NAM32 from:-55.8 till:-48.6 text: Paraberyx color:eocene bar:NAM33 from:-55.8 till:-48.6 text: Scianenuropsis color:eocene bar:NAM34 from:-55.8 till:-33.9 text: Berybolcensis color:eocene bar:NAM35 from:-55.8 till:-33.9 text:

Eoholocentrum ''Eoholocentrum'' ("dawn '' Holocentrum''") is an extinct genus of prehistoric marine ray-finned fish that lived during the early Eocene. It contains a single species, ''E. macrocephalum'', known from the Early Eocene of Monte Bolca, Italy. It r ...

color:eocene bar:NAM36 from:-55.8 till:-33.9 text: Tenuicentrum color:eocene bar:NAM37 from:-55.8 till:0 text:

Holocentrus ''Holocentrus'' is a genus of squirrelfishes found in the Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth# ...

color:eocene bar:NAM38 from:-55.8 till:0 text: Hoplostethus color:eocene bar:NAM39 from:-55.8 till:0 text:

Sargocentron ''Sargocentron'' is a genus of squirrelfish (family Holocentridae) found in tropical parts of the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, with the greatest species diversity near reefs in the Indo-Pacific. Being largely or entirely nocturnal, th ...

color:eocene bar:NAM40 from:-55.8 till:0 text:

Monocentris ''Monocentris'' is a genus of pinecone fishes native to the 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 t ...

color:eocene bar:NAM41 from:-48.6 till:0 text: Gephyroberyx color:eocene bar:NAM42 from:-48.6 till:0 text: Optivus color:eocene bar:NAM43 from:-37.2 till:-28.4 text: Holocentrites color:eocene bar:NAM44 from:-37.2 till:0 text: Beryx color:oligocene bar:NAM45 from:-33.9 till:-28.4 text: Berycomorus color:oligocene bar:NAM46 from:-33.9 till:-28.4 text: Digoria color:oligocene bar:NAM47 from:-33.9 till:-28.4 text: Pseudholocentrum color:oligocene bar:NAM48 from:-33.9 till:0 text: Diretmus color:oligocene bar:NAM49 from:-33.9 till:0 text: Plectrypops color:oligocene bar:NAM50 from:-33.9 till:0 text: Poromitra color:miocene bar:NAM51 from:-23.03 till:0 text: Myripristis color:miocene bar:NAM52 from:-15.97 till:0 text: Kryptophaneron color:miocene bar:NAM53 from:-11.608 till:-5.332 text: Africentrum color:miocene bar:NAM54 from:-11.608 till:0 text: Melamphaes color:miocene bar:NAM55 from:-11.608 till:0 text: Scopelogadus 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.

References

External links

* * * * {{Authority control Ray-finned fish orders Taxa named by Charles Tate Regan Articles which contain graphical timelines