Centrarchiformes 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 ...

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 ...

, previously included amongst the

perciformes Perciformes (), also called the Acanthopteri, is an order or superorder of ray-finned fish in the clade Percomorpha. ''Perciformes'' means " perch-like". Among the well-known members of this group are perches and darters ( Percidae), and als ...

. Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. (2023). FishBase. Centrarchiformes. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=1517557 on 2023-11-12 The order Centrarchiformes is not recognized in the 5th Edition (2016) of ''

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 ...

'', but is accepted on the

World Register of Marine Species The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive catalogue and list of names of marine organisms. Content The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scien ...

in November 2023, Fishbase, and ''

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 ...

''. Many centrarchiforms look essentially perch-like, featuring a stocky build and a spine-bearing dorsal fin, and range in size from in length (for '' Elassoma gilberti),'' to for the '' Maccullochella peelii.'' The earliest fossils of this group are of '' Percichthys'' from the

Early Paleocene The Danian is the oldest age (geology), age or lowest stage (stratigraphy), stage of the Paleocene Epoch or series (stratigraphy), Series, of the Paleogene Period or system (stratigraphy), System, and of the Cenozoic Era or Erathem. The beginnin ...

of Bolivia, although this status is tentative. If these remains are not of a percichthyid, then the earliest known centrarchiform fossils are of oplegnathids from the

Early Eocene In the geologic timescale the Ypresian is the oldest age (geology), age or lowest stage (stratigraphy), stratigraphic stage of the Eocene. It spans the time between , is preceded by the Thanetian Age (part of the Paleocene) and is followed by th ...

of Antarctica. Phylogenetic inferences suggest that this order diverged from its closest relative, the

Labriformes Labriformes is an Order (biology), order of ray-finned fishes within the clade Percomorpha. Some authors include the Labriformes as the clade Labroidei within the Perciformes while others include more Family (biology), families within the Labrif ...

, 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 ...

, about 83 million years ago. Centrarchiformes are widespread worldwide, being found in all temperate and tropical nearshore marine habitats, with freshwater radiations also present on several different continents. The largest family-level diversity within the group is found in the Southern Hemisphere, with many families

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the coast of Australia. However, the two most speciose groups of the order are found in freshwater, and are widely separated: freshwater members of the

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 ...

are found in

Australasia Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...

and nearby regions, while the freshwater sunfish (including the iconic

largemouth bass The largemouth bass (''Micropterus nigricans'') is a carnivorous, freshwater fish, freshwater, ray-finned fish in the Centrarchidae (sunfish) family, native to the eastern United States, eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada an ...

) are found throughout North America.

Taxonomy

Centrarchiformes includes the following subgroups: * Percalatoidei ** '' Percalates''

Ramsay Ramsay may refer to: People * Ramsay (surname), people named Ramsay * Clan Ramsay, a Scottish clan * Ramsay brothers, Indian film makers * Richard Sorge (1895–1944), Soviet spy codenamed "Ramsay" Places Australia * Ramsay, Queensland, a lo ...

& Ogilby, 1887 (Australian basses) * Terapontoidei ** Girellidae

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 ...

, 1862 (nibblers) ** Scorpididae Günther, 1860 (halfmoons) ** Kyphosidae Jordan, 1887 (sea chubs) ** Kuhliidae Jordan & Evermann, 1896 (flagtails) **

Richardson, 1842 (grunters) ** Dichistiidae Smith, 1935 (galjoens) **

Oplegnathidae ''Oplegnathus'' is currently the sole recognized genus in the knifejaw family (Oplegnathidae) of marine centrarchiform ray-finned fishes. The largest, the Cape knifejaw, can reach a maximum length around 90 cm (35 in). Knifejaws have ...

Bleeker, 1853 (knifejaws) ** Caesioscorpididae Parenti & Randall, 2020 (blowhole perches) ** Microcanthidae Bleeker, 1876 (stripeys) * Centrarchoidei ** Centrarchidae Bleeker, 1859 (North American sunfishes & basses) ** Elassomatidae Jordan, 1877 (pygmy sunfishes) ** Sinipercidae Jordan & Richardson, 1910 (Chinese perches) ** Enoplosidae Gill, 1893 (oldwives) ** Percichthyidae Jordan & Eigenmann, 1890 (temperate perches) ** Perciliidae Jordan, 1923 (southern basses) ** Parascorpididae Smith, 1949 (jutjaws) * Cirrhitoidei ** Cirrhitidae Macleay, 1841 (hawkfishes) ** Chironemidae Gill, 1862 (kelpfishes) **

Aplodactylidae ''Aplodactylus'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes, commonly known as marblefishes or sea carps. It is the only genus in the monotypy, monogeneric Family (biology), family, Aplodactylidae. The fishes in this genus are found in the south east ...

Günther, 1859 (marblefishes) ** Cheilodactylidae Bonaparte, 1850 (fingerfins) ** Latridae Gill, 1862 (trumpeters) Cladogram from Near & Thacker, 2024:

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17521922 Ray-finned fish orders Taxa described in 1859