Gars are members of the family Lepisosteidae, which are the only surviving members of the Ginglymodi, an ancient holosteian group of ray-finned fish, which first appeared during the Triassic, over 240 million years ago. Gars comprise seven living species of fish in two genera that inhabit fresh, brackish, and occasionally marine waters of eastern North America, Central America and Cuba in the Caribbean, though extinct members of the family were more widespread. Gars have elongated bodies that are heavily armored with ganoid scales, and fronted by similarly elongated jaws filled with long, sharp teeth. Gars are sometimes referred to as "garpike", but are not closely related to pike, which are in the fish family Esocidae. All of the gars are relatively large fish, but the alligator gar is the largest; the alligator gar often grows to a length over 2 m (6.5 ft) and a weight over 45 kg (100 lb), and specimens of up to 3 m (9.8 ft) in length have been reported. Unusually, their vascularised swim bladders can function as lungs, and most gars surface periodically to take a gulp of air. Gar flesh is edible and the hard skin and scales of gars are used by humans, but gar eggs are highly toxic.
Marine hatchetfishes or deep-sea hatchetfishes are small deep-sea mesopelagic ray-finned fish of the stomiiform subfamily Sternoptychinae. They should not be confused with the freshwater hatchetfishes, which are not particularly closely related Teleostei in the characiform family Gasteropelecidae.
Batrachoididae is the only family in the ray-finned fish order Batrachoidiformes. Members of this family are usually called toadfish, or "frogfish": both the English common name and scientific name refer to their toad-like appearance.
The bluegill, sometimes referred to as "bream", "brim", "sunny", or "copper nose" as is common in Texas, is a species of North American freshwater fish, native to and commonly found in streams, rivers, lakes, ponds and wetlands east of the Rockies. It is the type species of the genus Lepomis, from the family Centrarchidae in the order Perciformes.
The tinfoil barb is a tropical Southeast Asian freshwater fish of the family Cyprinidae. This species was originally described as Barbus schwanenfeldii by Pieter Bleeker in 1853, and has also been placed in the genera Barbodes and Puntius. The specific epithet is frequently misspelled schwanefeldii.
The marine hatchetfishes or deep-sea hatchetfishes as well as the related bottlelights, pearlsides and constellationfishes are small deep-sea ray-finned fish of the stomiiform family Sternoptychidae. They are not closely related to and should not be confused with the freshwater hatchetfishes, which are teleosts in the characiform family Gasteropelecidae. The Sternoptychidae have 10 genera and about 70 species altogether.
The common hatchetfish or river hatchetfish is a tropical fish belonging to the freshwater hatchetfish family (Gasteropelecidae). Originating in South America in the Peruvian and middle Amazon, the Guianas and Venezuela, it grows to about 2.5 inches (6.5 cm). The fish gets its name from its relatively large protruding belly which resembles a hatchet. Hatchetfish will often jump out of the water when alarmed, propelled by their large, winglike pectoral fins. They also jump to catch small aerial insects.
The marbled hatchetfish is a small, normally 3.5 cm (1.4 in) in length, freshwater ray-finned fish native to South America. Hatchet shaped, it presents a gold line extending from its eye to its caudal fin while the area below has a brown and cream colored marble-like pattern.
Barreleyes, also known as spook fish, are small deep-sea argentiniform fish comprising the family Opisthoproctidae found in tropical-to-temperate waters of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans.
The channel catfish is North America's most numerous catfish species. It is the official fish of Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and Tennessee, and is informally referred to as a "channel cat". In the United States, they are the most fished catfish species with around 8 million anglers targeting them per year. The popularity of channel catfish for food has contributed to the rapid expansion of aquaculture of this species in the United States. It has also been widely introduced in Europe, Asia and South America, and it is legally considered an invasive species in many countries.
The silver hatchetfish is a member of the genus Gasteropelecus in the family Gasteropelecidae. It is a relatively small fish that is often kept in aquariums. It is compressed laterally, with black and gold lines running along its side.
The freshwater butterflyfish or African butterflyfish, Pantodon buchholzi, is the only extant species in the family Pantodontidae within the order Osteoglossiformes. It is not closely related to saltwater butterflyfishes.
The mountain whitefish is one of the most widely distributed salmonid fish of western North America. It is found from the Mackenzie River drainage in Northwest Territories, Canada south through western Canada and the northwestern USA in the Pacific, Hudson Bay and upper Missouri River basins to the Truckee River drainage in Nevada and Sevier River drainage in Utah.
The banded corydoras or bearded catfish is a subtropical freshwater fish belonging to the subfamily Corydoradinae of the family Callichthyidae. It originates in coastal drainages in South America from Rio de Janeiro to Santa Catarina, Brazil.
Callichthys callichthys, the cascarudo, armored catfish, bubblenest catfish, hassar, or mailed catfish, is a subtropical freshwater fish belonging to the subfamily Callichthyinae of the family Callichthyidae.
The pygmy hatchetfish is a species of hatchetfish native to Peru.
The black-winged hatchetfish is a freshwater ray-finned fish native to South America.
Thoracocharax is a genus of freshwater hatchetfishes found in the Amazon, Orinoco and Paraná basins in South America. These fish live just under the surface of the water.
Carnegiella schereri, a species of freshwater hatchetfish, is native to the Amazon Basin in Peru and Brazil. It is often sold for home aquariums as silver hatchetfish, dwarf hatchetfish, or Scherer's hatchetfish, and grows to about 2.6 centimeters.
Thoracocharax stellatus, the silver hatchetfish, spotfin silver hatchetfish, spotted hatchetfish or platinum hatchetfish, is a widespread hatchetfish found throughout South America including Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Argentina in the Amazon, Orinoco, Paraguay and Tocantins-Araguaia basins. This species is one of the largest of the hatchetfishes. It is usually found in areas with abundant riparian vegetation.
