Atheriniformes

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Silversides
Red m boesemani.jpg
Boeseman's rainbowfish, Melanotaenia boesemani, red variety
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
(unranked): Atherinomorpha
Order: Atheriniformes
D. E. Rosen, 1966
Type species
Atherina hepsetus
Linnaeus, 1758 [1]
Suborders [2]

The Atheriniformes, also known as the silversides, are an order of ray-finned fishes that includes the Old World silversides and several less-familiar families, including the unusual Phallostethidae. The order includes at least 354 species. They are found worldwide in tropical and temperate marine and freshwater environments. [3]

Contents

Description

Atheriniformes are generally elongated and silvery in colour, although exceptions do exist. They are typically small fish, with the largest being the Argentinian silverside, with a head-body length of 50 cm (20 in), [4] and the smallest species, such as the Bangkok minnow, being only 2 cm (0.79 in) in adult length. [3]

Members of the order usually have two dorsal fins, the first with flexible spines, and an anal fin with one spine at the front. The lateral line is typically weak or absent. [5] Atheriniform larvae share several characteristics; the gut is unusually short, a single row of melanophores occurs along the back, and the fin rays do not become evident until some time after hatching. [5] They scatter their eggs widely, with most species attaching them to aquatic plants. [3]

Taxonomy

Classification of the Atheriniformes is uncertain, with the best evidence for monophyly in the larval characteristics mentioned below. [5] Their closest relatives are thought to be the Cyprinodontiformes. [3]

Nelson 2016 recognizes the infraseries Atherinomorpha, part of the sub series Ovalentaria which includes the orders Atheriniformes, Beloniformes, and Cyprinodontiformes, citing the larval characteristics and supporting molecular studies of these taxa as support for monophyly of this grouping. The sister taxon to the Atherinomorpha appears to be the Mugiliformes. [2]

Following Nelson (2006), the family Melanotaeniidae includes the subfamilies Bedotiinae, Melanotaeniinae, Pseudomugilinae, and Telmatherininae, to demonstrate their monophyly. [5] However, in a 2004 study, a different classification scheme classifies the families Bedotiidae, Melanotaeniidae, and Pseudomugilidae (also include Telmatherinine genera) in a suborder Melanotaenioidei. [6] Thus, the number of families in Atheriniformes varies from author to author.

Nelson 2016 classifies the families as follows: [2]

Timeline of genera

QuaternaryNeogenePaleogeneHolocenePleist.Plio.MioceneOligoceneEocenePaleoceneLeuresthesMenidiaColpichthysChirostomaAtherinopsisStenatherinaPranesusPalaeoatherinaAtherinaQuaternaryNeogenePaleogeneHolocenePleist.Plio.MioceneOligoceneEocenePaleoceneAtheriniformes

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cyprinodontiformes</span> Order of fishes

Cyprinodontiformes is an order of ray-finned fish, comprising mostly small, freshwater fish. Many popular aquarium fish, such as killifish and live-bearers, are included. They are closely related to the Atheriniformes and are occasionally included with them. A colloquial term for the order as a whole is toothcarps, though they are not actually close relatives of the true carps – the latter belong to the superorder Ostariophysi, while the toothcarps are Acanthopterygii.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Triglidae</span> Family of fishes

Triglidae, commonly known as gurnards or sea robins, are a family of bottom-feeding scorpaeniform ray-finned fish. The gurnards are distributed in temperate and tropical seas worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Threadfin rainbowfish</span> Species of fish

The threadfin rainbowfish or featherfin rainbowfish is a rainbowfish, the only species in the genus Iriatherina. It is characterized by long beautiful fins, and is among the most attractive of the rainbowfishes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rainbowfish</span> Family of fishes

Rainbowfishes are small, colourful freshwater fishes belonging to the family Melanotaeniidae, found in northern and eastern Australia, New Guinea, Sulawesi and Madagascar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emmelichthyidae</span> Family of fishes

Emmelichthyidae is a small family of small to medium-sized marine ray-finned fishes known commonly as rovers, bonnetmouths or rubyfishes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Acanthopterygii</span> Superorder of bony fishes

Acanthopterygii is a superorder of 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 this name is often given to the class Actinopterygii as a whole.

<i>Bedotia</i> Genus of fishes

Bedotia is a genus of the family Bedotiidae of fishes endemic to Madagascar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bedotiinae</span> Family of fishes

Bedotiinae are a subfamily of the rainbowfish family Melanotaeniidae, commonly known as the Madagascar rainbowfish, Madagascan rainbowfish, or Malagasy rainbowfish due to their endemism to Madagascar. It includes two genera, Bedotia and Rheocles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zona</span> Species of fish

The red-tailed silverside, or zona is a species of Madagascar rainbowfish endemic to the Mananjary River drainage in Madagascar. It is threatened by habitat loss and introduced species. It has often been confused with the related B. madagascariensis, which is common in the aquarium trade. In addition to meristics, the two can be separated by the exact colour pattern on their tail fin and the distinct red spot on the lower jaw of breeding male B. geayi. B. geayi was described in 1907 by Jacques Pellegrin from a type collected by the pharmacist and natural history collector Martin François Geay (1859-1910), who Pellegrin honoured with its specific name.

Cairnsichthys is a genus of rainbowfishes from the subfamily Melanotaeniinae. The genus is endemic to freshwater streams in eastern Queensland in north eastern Australia. The genus was designated as a monotypic genus in 1928 by John T. Nichols and Henry C. Raven but in 2018 a second species was assigned to the genus.

Rheocles derhami is a species of rainbowfish in the subfamily Bedotiinae, the Madagascar rainbowfishes. It is endemic to the Ambalona River and Mangarahar River in Madagascar. Its natural habitat is rivers. It was described by Melanie Stiassny and Damaris Rodriguez in 1992 and was named in honour of the Swiss conservationist Patrick De Rham.

Rheocles sikorae is a species of rainbowfish in the subfamily Bedotiinae, the Madagascar rainbowfishes. It is endemic to Madagascar where found in tropical rivers and streams. It can reach the maximum recorded length of 11.5 cm (4.5 in).

Rheocles wrightae, is a species of rainbowfish in the subfamily Bedotiinae, the Madagascar rainbowfishes. It is endemic to Madagascar where its occurs in the Manambola River, near Anosibe. It is threatened by habitat loss. It was described by Melanie Stiassny in 1990 from a type locality given as "Sandrangato River, south of Moramanga". The specific name honours the American primatologist Patricia Wright.

Telmatherina opudi is a species of fish in the subfamily Telmatherininae part of the family Melanotaeniidae, the rainbowfishes. It is endemic to Indonesia. his species was described in 1991 by Maurice Kottelat from a type locality of Lake Matano. Kottelat gave the species the specific name of opudi which is the local name for all the species of Telmatherina found in Lake Matano.

Telmatherina wahjui is a species of fish in the subfamily Telmatherininae, which is part of the family Melanotaeniidae; the rainbowfishes. It is endemic to Indonesia, where it occurs only in Lake Matano on the island of Sulawesi. It can reach a maximum length of around 5 centimetres (2.0 in). This species was described in 1991 by Mairice Kottelat with a type locality of Alaponkepi which is situated at the outlet of Lake Matano. The specific name honours Beni N. Wahju who was Vice President and Secretary of P. T. Inco Industries. Mr Wahju's support was vital in ensuring that the ichthyological survey of the Malili Lakes, in which the type of this species was collected, was possible.

The surf silverside is a species of silverside from the order Atheriniformes found along the Pacific coast of Argentina and Chile. It is the only known member of its family and molecular evidence points to this species being sister to the Neotropical silversides of the family Atherinopsidae, with the Notocheiridae and the Atherinopsidae making up the suborder Atherinopsoidei. This species is characterised by the absence of a first dorsal fin. This species was described by Howard W. Clark in 1937 from types collected in the harbour of Valparaíso, Chile, and the specific name honours the American ichthyologist and authority on silversides, Carl Leavitt Hubbs (1894-1979).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ovalentaria</span> Clade of fishes

Ovalentaria is a clade of ray-finned fishes within the Percomorpha, referred to as a subseries. It is made up of a group of fish families which are referred to in Fishes of the World's fifth edition as incertae sedis, as well as the orders Mugiliformes, Cichliformes, and Blenniiformes. It was named by W. L. Smith and T. J. Near in Wainwright et al. (2012) based on a molecular phylogeny, but the authors suggested that the group was united by the presence of demersal eggs that are attached to a substrate. Some authors have used the ordinal name Stiassnyiformes for a clade including Mugiloidei, Plesiopidae, Blenniiformes, Atherinomorpha, and Cichlidae, and this grouping does appear to be monophyletic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atherinomorpha</span> Clade of fishes

The Atherinomorpha is a clade of fishes in the superorder Acanthopterygii, the ray-finned fishes, consisting of three orders. The clade is ranked as an infraseries within the subseries Ovalentaria, which in turn is ranked within the wider Percomorpha clade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atherinoidei</span> Suborder of fishes

Atherinoidei is a suborder of the order Atheriniformes comprising six families, with a mainly Old World distribution, although a few species are found in the western Atlantic Ocean.

Leggett's rainbowfish is a species of rainbowfish in the subfamily Melanotaeniinae. It is only found in the Wapoga River system of northern Irian Jaya, Indonesia. This species can reach a length of 9.3 centimetres (3.7 in) SL.

References

  1. Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Atherina". Catalog of Fishes . California Academy of Sciences . Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 J. S. Nelson; T. C. Grande; M. V. H. Wilson (2016). Fishes of the World (5th ed.). Wiley. p. 354. ISBN   978-1-118-34233-6. Archived from the original on 2019-04-08. Retrieved 2019-06-18.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Allen, Gerald R. (1998). Paxton, J.R.; Eschmeyer, W.N. (eds.). Encyclopedia of Fishes. San Diego: Academic Press. pp. 153–156. ISBN   0-12-547665-5.
  4. "Odontesthes bonariensis, Argentinian silverside : fisheries, aquaculture, gamefish". www.fishbase.de. Retrieved 2022-08-21.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Nelson, Joseph S. (2006). Fishes of the World . John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN   0-471-25031-7.
  6. Sparks, John S.; Smith, W. Leo (2004). "Phylogeny and biogeography of the Malagasy and Australasian rainbowfishes (Teleostei: Melanotaenioidei): Gondwanan vicariance and evolution in freshwater" (PDF). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 33 (3): 719–734. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2004.07.002. PMID   15522799 . Retrieved 2009-06-22.