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.
The Old World silversides are a family, Atherinidae, of fish in the order Atheriniformes. They occur worldwide in tropical and temperate waters. About two-thirds of the species are marine, and the remainder live in fresh water. The 74 species are in 13 genera. The genus Craterocephalus is the most diverse with 25 species. Four genera are monotypic.
Chirostoma bartoni, the Alberca silverside, was a species of neotropical silverside endemic to the Lerma River basin of Mexico. Typical adult specimens were approximately 7.1 cm in length.
Chirostoma is a genus of Neotropical silversides from the Lerma River basin in Mexico, including lakes Chapala and Pátzcuaro. Fish in the genus collectively go by the common name charal/charales in their native range. They are heavily fished, but several of the species have become threatened due to habitat loss, introduced species and overfishing. Three species are considered extinct: C. bartoni, C. charari (1957) and C. compressum (1900). Four others have not been recorded recently and may also be extinct.
Chirostoma humboldtianum, the shortfin silverside, is a species of neotropical silverside endemic to Mexico. It reaches a maximum length of around 20 cm. This species was described as Atherina humboldtiana by Achille Valenciennes in 1835 with a type locality of "Mexico". Valenciennes gave it its specific name in honour of the Prussian explorer Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859).
The Key silverside is a species of fish in the family Atherinopsidae. It is endemic to the Florida Keys.
Poblana ferdebueni, the Chignahuapan silverside is a species of neotropical silverside endemic to Mexico. This species was described by Aurelio Solórzano Preciado and Irma López-Guerrero in 1965 from a type locality of Laguna de Almoloya, Chignahuapan Lake, Puebla State, Mexico and was fiven the specific name derdebueni to honour the Spanish ichthyologist Fernando de Buen y Lozano (1895-1962) who had originally proposed the genus Poblana.
Teramulus kieneri, the Keiner's silverside or vily, is a species of silverside endemic to Madagascar where it is found in rivers around on the eastern coast. This species was described by J.L.B. Smith in 1965 with the type locality given as the coastal swamps near Tamatave. It has since been found in other areas of the island, including the basin pf the Nosivolo River and in the Bemarivo River. Smith gave this species the specific name keineri to honour the French fisheries scientist, André Kiener, who assisted in the collection of the type in 1961, although it was initially reported as Atherinomorus duodecimalis. It is the type species of the genus Teramulus.
Odontesthes regia is a fish belonging to the family Atherinopsidae, commonly referred to in English as Chilean silverside, Peruvian silverside or sea silverside, and in Spanish as pejerrey or pejerrey de mar.
The Waccamaw silverside is a rare species of fish in the family Atherinopsidae. It is a federally listed threatened species of the United States.
Bleheratherina pierucciae is a species of freshwater silverside endemic to New Caledonia. This species grows to 4.7 cm (1.9 in) in standard length. It is the only known species in its genus and subfamily. This species was described by Aarn Aarn and Walter Ivantsoff in 2009 with the type locality of the Tontouta River, New Caledonia,. The type was collected by Heiko Bleher and Paola Pierucci and Aarn and Ivantsoff named this species after both of them, the suffix -ae indicating Ms Pierucci's gender.
Labidesthes is a genus of Neotropical silverside found in Gulf of Mexico drainages, east around the southern tip of peninsular Florida and north to the Pee Dee River drainage and the Great Lakes - St-Lawrence River drainages.
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).
Membras martinica, the rough silverside, is a species of Neotropical silverside from the family Atherinopsidae, it is the type species of the genus Membras.
The panatela silverside is a species of reef-dwelling silverside from the subfamily Atherinomorinae which is found in the southwest Pacific Ocean. This species grows to 11 cm (4.3 in) in total length and is of minor importance to commercial fisheries. This species is the only species in the genus Stenatherina, although some authorities place it in the genus Hypoatherina. This species was described by David Starr Jordan and Robert Earl Richardson as Atherina panatela with the type locality given as Calayan Island in the Philippines. The specific name is the Spanish word for a long, thin cigar and is presumed to be a reference to the elongated, slender body of this fish.
Atherinella elegans is a species of Neotropical silversides (Atherinopsidae). It is found in Río del Fuerte, Sinaloa, Mexico.
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.
Atherinopsoidei is a suborder of the order Atheriniformes comprising two families, both of which are restricted to the Americas.
Atherinopsinae is a subfamily of the Neotropical silversides, part of the family Atherinopsidae. This subfamily is made up of two tribes, six genera and around 30 species. They are found in the eastern Pacific and south-western Atlantic and the subfamily contains marine, brackish and freshwater species.
Labidesthes vanhyningi, the golden silverside, is a species of Neotropical silverside from North America. This is a pelagic and neritic freshwater fish which is found in river systems draining into the Gulf of Mexico from the Neches River to southern Florida. It was described by Barton A. Bean and Earl D. Reid in 1930 from a type locality of Prairie Creek, 6 miles east of Gainesville, Florida and named in honour of the collector of the type, herpetologist Oather C. Van Hyning, the son of Thompson H. Van Hyning who was the first director of the Florida Museum of Natural History.
