Chondrichthyes is a class that contains the cartilaginous fishes that have skeletons primarily composed of cartilage. They can be contrasted with the Osteichthyes or bony fishes, which have skeletons primarily composed of bone tissue. Chondrichthyes are jawed vertebrates with paired fins, paired nares, scales, and a heart with its chambers in series. The class is divided into two subclasses: Elasmobranchii and Holocephali.
Opahs, also commonly known as moonfish, sunfish, kingfish, redfin ocean pan, and Jerusalem haddock, are large, colorful, deep-bodied pelagic lampriform fishes comprising the small family Lampridae.
The Atlantic horse mackerel, also known as the European horse mackerel or common scad, is a species of jack mackerel in the family Carangidae, the jacks, pompanos and trevallies. It is found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean off Europe and Africa and into the south-eastern Indian Ocean. It is an important species in commercial fisheries and is listed as a Vulnerable species on The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
The butterfly kingfish is an ocean-dwelling ray-finned bony fish in the mackerel family, Scombridae – a family which it shares with the tunas, mackerels, Spanish mackerels, and bonitos. Unlike the 50 species from those four tribes, however, this species is unique in that it is the only scombrid to be classified apart from the rest, into the subfamily Gasterochismatinae and genus Gasterochisma.
The Gempylidae are a family of perciform fishes, commonly known as snake mackerels or escolars. The family includes about 25 species.
Sarda chiliensis, the eastern Pacific bonito, is a marine species of bonito. It ranges from Ecuador to Chile. Sarda lineolata, which ranges from Alaska to Mexico was formerly considered a subspecies, as Sarda chiliensis lineolata, but this treatment renders the species geographically disjunct.
The longfin mako shark is a species of mackerel shark in the family Lamnidae, with a probable worldwide distribution in temperate and tropical waters. An uncommon species, it is typically lumped together under the name "mako" with its better-known relative, the shortfin mako shark. The longfin mako is a pelagic species found in moderately deep water, having been reported to a depth of 220 m (720 ft). Growing to a maximum length of 4.3 m (14 ft), the slimmer build and long, broad pectoral fins of this shark suggest that it is a slower and less active swimmer than the shortfin mako.
The crocodile shark is a species of mackerel shark and the only extant member of the family Pseudocarchariidae. A specialized inhabitant of the mesopelagic zone, the crocodile shark can be found worldwide in tropical waters from the surface to a depth of 590 m (1,940 ft). It performs a diel vertical migration, staying below a depth of 200 m (660 ft) during the day and ascending into shallower water at night to feed. Typically measuring only 1 m (3.3 ft) in length, the crocodile shark is the smallest living mackerel shark. It can be distinguished by its elongated cigar-shaped body, extremely large eyes, and relatively small fins.
A piscivore is a carnivorous animal that eats primarily fish. Piscivorous is equivalent to the Greek-derived word ichthyophagous. Fish were the diet of early tetrapods (amphibians); insectivory came next, then in time, reptiles added herbivory.
Zaphlegulus venturaensis is an extinct, superficially mackerel-like, fish related to the cutlassfish and snake mackerels found off the coast of what is now California during the late Miocene. Z. venturaensis was shorter, but stouter than either of the other two better known genera of the extinct family Zaphlegidae, Thyrsocles and Euzaphleges, which also lived at the same time.
A caiman is an alligatorid belonging to the subfamily Caimaninae, one of two primary lineages within Alligatoridae, the other being alligators.
Euzaphlegidae is a family of extinct escolar-like fish closely related to the snake mackerels. Fossils of euzaphlegids are found from Paleocene to Late Miocene-aged marine strata of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains, India, Iran, Turkmenistan, Italy, and Southern California.
Laytonia is an extinct genus of prehistoric halosaur that lived in deep water off the North American Pacific Coast from the Zemorrian Epoch until during the Upper Miocene subepoch, when tectonic uplift effectively destroyed the genus' habitat by making the deep water too shallow.
Tunita is an extinct genus of prehistoric mackerel that lived during the Upper Miocene subepoch of Southern California.
Lompoquia retropes is an extinct marine drumfish that lived what is now Southern California during the Upper Miocene subepoch.
Ioscion morgani is an extinct prehistoric bony fish that lived during the Upper Miocene subepoch of what is now Southern California. It is primarily known from incomplete fossils, such as the holotype, which consists of a broken backbone. Although the head is unknown, enough of the animal's anatomy suggests a relationship with the jackfishes of Carangidae.
Lampris zatima is the oldest known opah of the genus Lampris, from the Late Miocene of Southern California. Its fossil record is rather poor, known primarily from isolated vertebral columns, and a few headless specimens. Alive, it is estimated to have been around 20 to 30 centimeters long.
The Atka mackerel is a mackerel in the family Hexagrammidae. Atka mackerel are common to the northern Pacific ocean, and are one of only two members of the genus Pleurogrammus - the other being the Arabesque greenling. The Atka mackerel was named for Atka Island, the largest island of the Andreanof islands, a branch of the Aleutians.
The Pacific sierra also known as the Mexican sierra, is a ray-finned bony fish in the family Scombridae, better known as the mackerel family. More specifically, this fish is a member of the tribe Scomberomorini, the Spanish mackerels. It occurs in the eastern Pacific Ocean from southern California to Antofagasta in Chile.
Araeosteus rothi is an extinct bony fish closely related to the modern-day prowfish, Zaprora silenus. A. rothi is found in Late Miocene marine strata of Southern California, primarily the Diatom Beds of Lompoc and the Santa Monica Mountains.
