Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Superclassis/Classis: Actinopterygii
Classis/Subclassis: Actinopteri
Subclassis/Infraclassis: Neopterygii
Infraclassis: Teleostei
Megacohors: Osteoglossocephalai
Supercohors: Clupeocephala
Cohors: Euteleosteomorpha
Subcohors: Neoteleostei
Infracohors: Eurypterygia
Sectio: Ctenosquamata
Subsectio: Acanthomorphata
Divisio/Superordo: Acanthopterygii
Ordo: Cetomimiformes
Familia: Cetomimidae - Rondeletiidae - Barbourisiidae
Name
Cetomimiformes
References
Betancur-R., R., Broughton, R.E., Wiley, E.O., Carpenter, K., López, J.A., Li, C., Holcroft, N.I., Arcila, D., Sanciangco, M., Cureton II, J.C., Zhang, F., Buser, T., Campbell, M.A., Ballesteros, J.A., Roa-Varon, A., Willis, S., Borden, W.C., Rowley, T., Reneau, P.C., Hough, D.J., Lu, G., Grande, T., Arratia, G. & Ortí, G. 2013. The tree of life and a new classification of bony fishes. PLOS Currents Tree of Life 2013 Apr 18: 1–45, downloadable Appendix 2 (new classification): 1–21, and downloadable Figure S1 (complete cladogram with annotated classification). DOI: 10.1371/currents.tol.53ba26640df0ccaee75bb165c8c26288 [nonfunctional] Broken access. PDF.. Reference page.
Links
Cetomimiformes in FishBase,
Froese, R. & Pauly, D. (eds.) 2024. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication, www.fishbase.org, version 02/2024.
Vernacular names
English: Whalefishes
polski: wielorybinkokształtne
українська: Китовидкоподібні
The Cetomimiformes or whalefishes are an order of small, deep-sea ray-finned fish. Some authorities[1] include the whalefishes as part of the order Stephanoberyciformes, within the superfamily Cetomimoidea. Their sister order, the Beryciformes, includes the flashlight fish and squirrelfish.
Within this group are five families and approximately 18 genera and 32 species (but see below). Thought to have a circumglobal distribution throughout the tropical and temperate latitudes, whalefishes have been recorded at depths in excess of 3,500 metres.
Description
Named after their whale-shaped body (from the Greek ketos meaning "whale" or "sea monster", mimos meaning "imitative" and the Latin forma meaning "form"), the Cetomimiformes have extremely large mouths and highly distensible stomachs. Their eyes are very small or vestigial; the lateral line (composed of huge, hollow tubes) is consequently very well developed to compensate for life in the pitch black depths.
The dorsal and anal fins are set far back; all fins lack spines. The swim bladder is also absent, except in the larvae and juveniles which occur in the surface waters.[2] Whalefish coloration is typically red to orange, sometimes with a black body. Some species possess light-producing organs called photophores; these are widespread among deep-sea fishes.
The largest known species reach a length of just 40 centimetres; most species are half this size. Sexual dimorphism is (apparently) exceptionally strong: males may only grow to 3.5 centimetres while females may be ten times as large. This is not uncommon among deep-sea fishes, with the males serving little use other than as suppliers of sperm: an even more extreme case are the parasitic males in deep-sea anglerfish.
Families
Cetomimidae — flabby whalefishes
Rondeletiidae — redmouth whalefishes
Barbourisiidae — velvet whalefish (monotypic)
The gibberfishes (Gibberichthyidae) on the other hand, usually placed in the Stephanoberyciformes sensu stricto, appear to be close relatives of the Rondeletiidae and Barbourisiidae, as has been occasionally proposed.[2]
Footnotes
E.g. Nelson (2006)
Paxton et al. (2001)
References
Nelson, J.S. (2006): Fishes of the World (4th ed.). ISBN 0-471-25031-7
Paxton, John R.; Johnson, G. David & Trnski, Thomas (2001): Larvae and juveniles of the deepsea "whalefishes" Barbourisia and Rondeletia (Stephanoberyciformes: Barbourisiidae, Rondeletiidae), with comments on family relationships. Records of the Australian Museum 53(3): 407-425. PDF fulltext
External links
Whalefish - Smithsonian Ocean Portal
Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2006). "Cetomimiformes" in FishBase. January 2006 version.
Aquatic community website Archived 2015-12-08 at the Wayback Machine
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/"
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License
