The Zeiformes are a small order of exclusively marine ray-finned fishes most notable for the dories, a group of common food fish. The order consists of about 33 species in six extant families, mostly deep-sea types. The boarfishes (Caproidae) have been previously included in this order though they are currently included in the Perciformes.
Birgeria is a genus of carnivorous marine ray-finned fish from the Triassic period. Birgeria had a global distribution, with fossil known from Madagascar, Spitsbergen, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia, China, Russia, Canada and Nevada, United States. The oldest fossils are from Griesbachian aged beds of the Wordie Creek Formation of East Greenland. Birgeria existed throughout the entire Triassic period, from the very beginning just after the Permian-Triassic mass extinction, up to the very end with its extinction during the Triassic-Jurassic mass extinction.
Apateodus is a genus of prehistoric marine ray-finned fish which was described by Woodward in 1901. It was a relative of modern lizardfish and lancetfish in the order Aulopiformes, and one of a number of prominent nektonic aulopiforms of Cretaceous marine ecosystems.
Pachycormiformes is an extinct order of marine ray-finned fish known from the Early Jurassic to the end of the Cretaceous. It only includes a single family, Pachycormidae. They were characterized by having serrated pectoral fins, reduced pelvic fins and a bony rostrum. Pachycormiformes are morphologically diverse, containing both tuna and swordfish-like carnivorous forms, as well as edentulous suspension-feeding forms.
Asialepidotus is an extinct genus of prehistoric marine ray-finned fish that lived during the Ladinian stage of the Middle Triassic epoch. It contains a single species, A. shingyiensis, from Guizhou, China.
Eichstaettia is an extinct genus of marine ray-finned fish that lived during the early Tithonian stage of the Late Jurassic epoch. It contains a single species, E. mayri from the Eichstätt Formation of Germany, which is part of the wider Solnhofen Limestone. It was an early stem-group elopiform, making it distantly related to modern tarpons and ladyfish. It was initially described as a species of Anaethalion.
Daitingichthys is an extinct genus of prehistoric marine ray-finned fish that lived during the Late Jurassic period. It contains a single species, D. tischlingeri from the early Tithonian-aged Mörnsheim Formation of the Solnhofen Limestone, Germany. It is thought to be a stem-elopiform, related to modern ladyfish and tarpons.
Chrotichthys is an extinct genus of prehistoric freshwater ray-finned fish that lived in the Anisian stage of the Middle Triassic epoch. It contains a single species, C. gregarius, known from the Terrigal Formation of New South Wales, Australia.
Acentrophorus is an extinct genus of prehistoric freshwater and marine ray-finned fish from the Roadian to the Wuchiapingian of England, Germany (Kupferschiefer), Italy and Russia. There may also be a Triassic occurrence in Australia.
Anaethalion is an extinct genus of prehistoric marine and freshwater ray-finned fish related to modern tarpons and ladyfish. It is known from the Late Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous of Europe and northeasterrn Asia, roughly encompassing the Tethys Ocean.
Bendenius is an extinct genus of prehistoric marine ray-finned fish. It is known from the Early Carboniferous of Belgium. It was named after Belgian paleontologist Pierre-Joseph van Beneden.
Cretatriacanthus is an extinct genus of prehistoric marine ray-finned fish from the Late Cretaceous. It contains a single species, C. guidottii from the late Campanian or early Maastrichtian of Nardò, Italy. It is generally placed as a basal tetraodontiform, although more recent studies have disputed this, finding it to instead represent an early basal percomorph.
Ceramurus is an extinct genus of prehistoric marine ray-finned fish from the Late Jurassic. It contains a single species, C. macrocephalus from the Purbeck Group of England.
Dinelops is an extinct genus of marine ray-finned fish from the Late Cretaceous. It contains a single species, D. ornatus, from the Cenomanian of England. It was initially and often continues to be classified in the Osmeroididae, a family of extinct elopomorph fish that are placed in either the Albuliformes or Elopiformes. However, other studies place Osmeroides in the Albuliformes and Dinelops in the Elopiformes.
Dalmatichthys is an extinct genus of marine beardfish from the Late Cretaceous. It contains a single species, D. malezi from Croatia. It is the only member of the family Dalmatichthyidae, which is sometimes considered synonymous with Polymixiidae. Its exact relationship to modern beardfish in Polymixia likely needs further research.
Proleptolepis is an extinct genus of ray-finned fish belonging to the family Leptolepidae.
Sam Giles is a palaeobiologist and Professor in Vertebrate Palaeontology at the University of Birmingham. Her research combines modern imaging with fossils to understand the evolution of life, in particular that of early fish, and in 2015 "rewrote" the vertebrate family tree. She was a 2017 L'Oréal-UNESCO Rising Star and won the 2019 Geological Society of London Lyell Fund.
Coccocephalus is an extinct genus of prehistoric freshwater and marine basal ray-finned fish from the Carboniferous to the early Permian period. The type species, C. wildi, lived during the Bashkirian age of the Pennsylvanian epoch in what is now Lancashire, United Kingdom. One specimen of C. wildi is notable for having the earliest known instance of fossilized brain tissue in a vertebrate.
Lamprimorpha is a superorder of marine ray-finned fishes, representing a basal group of the highly diverse clade Acanthomorpha. Represented today only by the order Lampriformes, recent studies have recovered other basal fossil species of the group dating as far back as the Cenomanian stage of the Late Cretaceous. 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 to the superorder Paracanthopterygii, which contains cod, dories, and trout-perches; however, Lamprimorpha may instead be sister to Acanthopterygii.
Tanaocrossus is an extinct genus of primitive freshwater ray-finned fish that inhabited southwestern and eastern North America during the Late Triassic period. It contains a single known species, T. kalliokoskii, known from the United States, with indeterminate species also known.
