Stomiati is a group of

teleost Teleostei (; Ancient Greek, Greek ''teleios'' "complete" + ''osteon'' "bone"), members of which are known as teleosts (), is, by far, the largest group of ray-finned fishes (class Actinopterygii), with 96% of all neontology, extant species of f ...

fish belonging to the cohort (group)

Euteleostei Euteleostei, whose members are known as euteleosts, is a clade of bony fishes within Teleostei that evolved some 240 million years ago, although the oldest known fossil remains are only from the Early Cretaceous. It is divided into Protacanthopt ...

, which is a group of bony fishes within the infra-class

Teleostei Teleostei (; Ancient Greek, Greek ''teleios'' "complete" + ''osteon'' "bone"), members of which are known as teleosts (), is, by far, the largest group of ray-finned fishes (class Actinopterygii), with 96% of all neontology, extant species of f ...

that evolved ~240 million years ago. Teleostei is a group of ray-finned fishes with the exception of primitive

bichir Bichirs and the reedfish comprise Polypteridae , a family (biology), family of archaic Actinopterygii, ray-finned fishes and the only family in the order (biology), order Polypteriformes .Helfman GS, Collette BB, Facey DE, Bowen BW. 2009. The D ...

sturgeon Sturgeon (from Old English ultimately from Proto-Indo-European language, Proto-Indo-European *''str̥(Hx)yón''-) is the common name for the 27 species of fish belonging to the family Acipenseridae. The earliest sturgeon fossils date to the ...

paddlefish Paddlefish (family Polyodontidae) are a family of ray-finned fish belonging to order Acipenseriformes, and one of two living groups of the order alongside sturgeons (Acipenseridae). They are distinguished from other fish by their elongated rost ...

es, freshwater garfishes, and

bowfin The ruddy bowfin (''Amia calva'') is a ray-finned fish native to North America. Common names include mudfish, mud pike, dogfish, grindle, grinnel, swamp trout, and choupique. It is regarded as a relict, being one of only two surviving species ...

s. The cohort of Euteleostei is divided into two smaller groups: the

Protacanthopterygii Protacanthopterygii is a superorder of ray-finned fish. They inhabit both Marine (ocean), marine and freshwater habitats. They appear to have evolved in the Cretaceous or perhaps late Jurassic, originating probably roughly 150 million years ago; ...

and the

Neoteleostei The Neoteleostei is a large clade of teleostei, bony fish mostly consisting of marine clades. Only three lineages have freshwater species: Percopsiformes (Troutperches), which lives exclusively in freshwater, Gadiformes (cods), which is largely m ...

. Stomiati happen to be descendants of the Protacanthopterygii, and contains the order of

Osmeriformes The Osmeriformes are an order (biology), order of ray-finned fish that includes the true or freshwater smelts and allies, such as the noodlefishes; they are also collectively called osmeriforms. They belong to the teleost superorder Protacanthopt ...

and

Stomiiformes Stomiiformes is an order (biology), order of deep-sea ray-finned fishes of very diverse Morphology (biology), morphology. It includes, for example, Barbeled dragonfish, dragonfishes, lightfishes (Gonostomatidae and Phosichthyidae), loosejaws, ma ...

(Betancur-R, et al.). Stomiati is one of five major

euteleost Euteleostei, whose members are known as euteleosts, is a clade of bony fishes within Teleostei that evolved some 240 million years ago, although the oldest known fossil remains are only from the Early Cretaceous. It is divided into Protacanthopt ...

lineages that were recently placed in one monophyly, a group of organisms all descending from one common ancestor. The five being a clade formed by

Esociformes The Esocoidei () is a small suborder of freshwater Actinopterygii, ray-finned fish, one of two suborders in the order Salmoniformes. It contains two families, Umbridae and Esocidae. The pikes of genus ''Esox'' give the order its name. This order ...

and

Salmoniformes Salmoniformes (, lit. "salmon-shaped") is an Order (biology), order of Actinopterygii, ray-finned fishes native to the temperate and subarctic Northern Hemisphere. It contains two suborders: Salmonoidei (containing only the Salmonidae) and Esocoi ...

; second being the Stomiatii consisting of only

and

;

Argentiniformes The Argentiniformes is an order of marine ray-finned fish whose distinctness was recognized only fairly recently. In former times, they were included in the Osmeriformes (typical smelt and allies) as suborder Argentinoidei. That term refers onl ...

(excludes

Alepocephaliformes Alepocephaliformes is an order of marine deep-sea teleost fishes. It was previously classified as the suborder Alepocephaloidei of the order Argentiniformes. As an adaptation to a life in the deep-sea, there is no swim bladder, and the ossifica ...

);

Galaxiiformes 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 th ...

(excludes '' Lepidogalaxias''); and Neotelestei. Stomiati are known for their large mouth, long throat/barbel, and no caudal filament.

Osmeriformes

Osmeriformes smelts belong to the subcohort Protacanthopterygii. Osmeriformes mainly spawn in freshwater habitats except for the osmerid (family

Osmeridae Smelts are a family of small fish, the Osmeridae, found in the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans, as well as rivers, streams and lakes in Europe, North America and Northeast Asia. They are also known as freshwater smelts or typical smelts ...

) ''

Osmerus eperlanus ''Osmerus'' is a genus of smelt. Species There are currently four recognized species in this genus: * '' Osmerus eperlanus'' (Linnaeus, 1758) (European smelt) * '' Osmerus mordax'' (Mitchill, 1814) ** '' Osmerus mordax dentex'' Steindachner & ...

'', and one or two salangids (family

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 ...

). Fourteen different families comprise the order of Osmeriformes.

Stomiiformes

Stomiiformes are an order of deep sea ray-finned fishes. These fishes are known, and named, for their absurdly large mouth openings. Stomiiformes is derived from Ancient Greek meaning “mouth” + “external form” which references their large mouth openings. Four (some may claim 5) different families comprise the order of Stomiiformes.

Bioluminescence

The order of stomiiformes is linked to some of the most interesting deep sea dragonfishes. The genera of ''Malacosteus'''',

Aristostomias ''Aristostomias'' is a genus of barbeled dragonfishes native to the ocean depths in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Ocean, Indian oceans. Red Light Bioluminescence Production of red light bioluminescence Similar to other deep-sea organisms ...

'' and ''Pachystomias'' are the only fishes that have the ability to produce red

bioluminescence Bioluminescence is the emission of light during a chemiluminescence reaction by living organisms. Bioluminescence occurs in multifarious organisms ranging from marine vertebrates and invertebrates, as well as in some Fungus, fungi, microorgani ...

. The species ''Malacosteus'' ''niger'' is found lurking below a depth of illuminating its red light in order pick out prey. The reason this red bioluminescent light is so interesting is the fact that below the depth of 500 meters, there are very few organisms that have the ability to perceive this wavelength. Therefore, ''M. niger'' effortlessly hunts for prey with the aid of light while its prey remains in seemingly complete darkness. Little is known about their ability to use and let alone sense light at such depths. Due to them lurking at a depth well below 500 m, they can only be observed in their natural habitat, and bringing one up to the surface alive is infeasible. The change in pressure the fish would experience would be too great and most certainly be fatal.Kenaley, C P. “Diel vertical migration of the loosejaw dragonfishes (Stomiiformes: Stomiidae: Malacosteinae): a new analysis for rare pelagic taxa.” ''Journal of Fish Biology'', vol. 73, no. 4, ser. 1095-8649, 15 Sept. 2008, pp. 888–901. ''1095-8649'', doi:10.1111/j.1095-8649.2008.01983.x.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15849341 Ray-finned fish taxonomy