Centrarchiformes is an obsolete

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of ...

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or h ...

, now included amongst the

perciformes Perciformes (), also called the Percomorpha or Acanthopteri, is an order or superorder of ray-finned fish. If considered a single order, they are the most numerous order of vertebrates, containing about 41% of all bony fish. Perciformes means ...

, with 17 previously included families. This order first appeared about 55.8 million years ago in the Eocene Era, and is composed primarily of

omnivore An omnivore () is an animal that has the ability to eat and survive on both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize the nut ...

s. The order has a wide range that includes the continents of Australia and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the souther ...

. Many Centrarchiformes look essentially perch-like, featuring a stocky build and a spine-bearing dorsal fin, and range in size from 2.5 cm in length (for ''

Elassoma gilberti The Gulf Coast pygmy sunfish, ''Elassoma gilberti'', is a species of pygmy sunfish endemic to Florida, United States. This species can reach in standard length. Etymology The fish is named in honor of Carter R. Gilbert (1930-2022), who was ...

),'' to 1.8 meters for the '' Maccullochella peelii.'' The order Centrachiformes is not recognized in the 5th Edition of ''

Fishes of the World ''Fishes of the World'' by the American Ichthyology, ichthyologist Joseph S. Nelson (1937–2011) is a standard reference for fish systematics. Now in its fifth edition (2016), the work is a comprehensive overview of the diversity and classificat ...

''.

Previously included families

* Aplodactylidae *

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 in ...

* Cheilodactylidae * Chironemidae *

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 naturalis ...

* Dichistiidae * Elassomatidae (likely belong within Centrarchidae) * Enoplosidae * Girellidae *

Kuhliidae The flagtails (' or ' in the Hawaiian language) are a family (Kuhliidae) of perciform fish of the Indo-Pacific area. The family consists of several species in one genus, ''Kuhlia''. Most are euryhaline and often found in brackish water, but the g ...

* Kyphosidae * Latridae *

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 into ...

* Percalatidae * Percichthyidae * Perciliidae * Sinipercidae *

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 is ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17521922 Obsolete vertebrate taxa