Lamprimorpha is a

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

of marine

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

, representing a basal group of the highly diverse clade Acanthomorpha. Represented today only by the order

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

(containing

oarfish Oarfish are large and extremely long 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 by humans, the oa ...

, crestfish, and opahs, among others), recent studies have recovered other basal fossil species of the group (most of which were previously classified in other clades) dating as far back as the

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

stage of 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 ...

. Some of these fossil taxa, such as the paraphyletic genus '' Aipichthys'', are among the oldest known fossil acanthomorphs, and overall they appear to have been a major component of the marine fish fauna at that time. Lamprimorpha is thought to be the

sister group In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and ...

to the superorder

Paracanthopterygii Paracanthopterygii is a superorder of fishes. Members of this group are called paracanthopterygians. The oldest members are known as fossils from the Cenomanian. It includes five orders: * † Sphenocephaliformes * Percopsiformes ( trout-perche ...

, which contains

cod Cod (: cod) is the common name for the demersal fish genus ''Gadus'', belonging to the family (biology), family Gadidae. Cod is also used as part of the common name for a number of other fish species, and one species that belongs to genus ''Gad ...

, dories, and trout-perches; however, Lamprimorpha may instead be sister to

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 ...

. It was initially described as Lampridomorpha, although this is considered a misspelling by ''

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 ...

'', which refers to it as Lamprimorpha. Also synonymous with the group is the division Lampripterygii.

Taxonomy

The following taxa are known: * Genus †'' Freigichthys'' * Genus †'' Zoqueichthys'' * Family † Pharmacichthyidae * Family † Pycnosteroididae? (alternatively considered stem- paracanthopterygians) * Superfamily †Aipichthyoidea ** Family † Aipichthyidae ** Family † Aipichthyoididae * Order

** Genus †'' Nardovelifer'' ** Genus †'' Whitephippus'' ** Suborder Bathysomi *** Genus †'' Bathysoma'' *** Genus †'' Palaeocentrotus'' *** Genus †'' Veronavelifer'' *** Genus †'' Wettonius'' *** Family Lampridae *** Family †

Turkmenidae Turkmenidae is an extinct family of lamprids from the Paleogene of the west-central Asia, in what was formerly the Peri-Tethys Ocean. They were small, disk-shaped fish that bore a strong resemblance to their closest living relatives, the opahs ...

*** Family Veliferidae ** Suborder Taeniosomi *** Family Lophotidae *** Family

Radiicephalidae ''Radiicephalus'' is a genus of fishes in the monotypic family ''Radiicephalidae''. It was formerly thought to be a Monotypic taxon, monotypic genus, comprising the single species ''Radiicephalus elongatus'', commonly known as tapertail, until th ...

*** Family Trachipteridae *** Family Regalecidae

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q9346717, from2=Q60576955 Fish superorders Acanthomorpha