Zoarcoidei

Zoarcoidei was first proposed as a taxonomic grouping by the American zoologist Theodore Gill in 1893 as the superfamily Zoarceoidea. The 5th edition of Fishes of the World classifies the Zoarcoidei as a suborder within the order Scorpaeniformes. Other authorities classify this taxon as the infraorder Zoarcales within the suborder Cottoidei of the Perciformes because removing the Scorpaeniformes from the Perciformes renders that taxon paraphyletic. The monophyly of this grouping has still not been fully ascertained but it is generally accepted that the family Bathymasteridae is sister to the remaining lineages in the group. Families and subfamilies Zoarcoidei has the following families and subfamilies classified under it: • Family Bathymasteridae Jordan & Gilbert, 1883 (ronquils) • Family Cebidichthyidae Gill, 1862 (monkeyface pricklebacks) • Family Stichaeidae Gill, 1864 (pricklebacks) • Subfamily Stichaeinae Gill, 1864 • Subfamily Chirolophinae Jordan & Evermann, 1898 • Subfamily Alectriinae Makushok, 1958 (cockscombs) • Subfamily Xiphisterinae Jordan, 1880 • Family Scytalinidae Jordan & Starks, 1895 (graveldivers) • Family Opisthocentridae Jordan & Evermann, 1898 (rearspined fin pricklebacks) • Family Ptilichthyidae Jordan & Gilbert, 1883 (quillfishes) • Family Pholidae Gill, 1893 (gunnels) • Subfamily Pholinae Gill, 1893 (pigmented gunnels) • Subfamily Apodichthyinae Hubbs, 1927 (penpoint gunnels) • Family Zaproridae Jordan, 1896 (prowfishes) • Family Cryptacanthodidae Gill, 1861 (wrymouths) • Family Lumpenidae Jordan & Evermann, 1898 (eel pricklebacks) • Family Eulophiidae Smith, 1902 (spinous eelpouts) • Family Neozoarcidae Jordan & Snyder, 1902 (largemouth kissing eelpouts) • Family Anarhichadidae Bonaparte, 1835 (wolffishes) • Family Zoarcidae Swainson, 1839 (eelpouts) • Subfamily Lycodinae Gill, 1861 • Subfamily Lycozoarcinae Andriashev, 1939 • Subfamily Zoarcinae Swainson, 1839 (eelpouts) • Subfamily Gymnelinae Gill, 1863 (pouts) ==Etymology==

Zoarcoidei is based on the genus name Zoarces which was coined by Georges Cuvier in 1829 and which means "live bearing", as in the type species Zoarces viviparus, the viviparous blenny. ==Characteristics==

The Zoarcoidei families all share a single feature, the possession of a single nostril, and there is no other features or group of features which mark out the Zoarcoids as a taxonomic grouping. Some fish, like the ones in Stichaeidae and Anarhichadidae, resemble eels by using an Anguilliform body. ==Distribution==

The Zoarcoidei is thought to have originated in the northern hemisphere, particularly the northwestern Pacific Ocean and one of the families, the Zoarcidae, has colonised the southern hemisphere on a number of occasions. == Timeline ==

ImageSize = width:1000px height:auto barincrement:15px PlotArea = left:10px bottom:50px top:10px right:10px Period = from:-65.5 till:10 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:-65.5 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:-65.5 TimeAxis = orientation:hor AlignBars = justify Colors = #legends id:CAR value:claret id:ANK value:rgb(0.4,0.3,0.196) id:HER value:teal id:HAD value:green id:OMN value:blue id:black value:black id:white value:white id:cenozoic value:rgb(0.54,0.54,0.258) id:paleogene value:rgb(0.99,0.6,0.32) id:paleocene value:rgb(0.99,0.65,0.37) id:eocene value:rgb(0.99,0.71,0.42) id:oligocene value:rgb(0.99,0.75,0.48) id:neogene value:rgb(0.999999,0.9,0.1) id:miocene value:rgb(0.999999,0.999999,0) id:pliocene value:rgb(0.97,0.98,0.68) id:quaternary value:rgb(0.98,0.98,0.5) id:pleistocene value:rgb(0.999999,0.95,0.68) id:holocene value:rgb(0.999,0.95,0.88) BarData= bar:eratop bar:space bar:periodtop bar:space bar:NAM1 bar:NAM2 bar:NAM3 bar:NAM4 bar:NAM5 bar:NAM6 bar:space bar:period bar:space bar:era PlotData= align:center textcolor:black fontsize:M mark:(line,black) width:25 shift:(7,-4) bar:periodtop from: -65.5 till: -55.8 color:paleocene text:Paleocene from: -55.8 till: -33.9 color:eocene text:Eocene from: -33.9 till: -23.03 color:oligocene text:Oligocene from: -23.03 till: -5.332 color:miocene text:Miocene from: -5.332 till: -2.588 color:pliocene text:Plio. from: -2.588 till: -0.0117 color:pleistocene text:Pleist. from: -0.0117 till: 0 color:holocene text:H. bar:eratop from: -65.5 till: -23.03 color:paleogene text:Paleogene from: -23.03 till: -2.588 color:neogene text:Neogene from: -2.588 till: 0 color:quaternary text:Q. PlotData= align:left fontsize:M mark:(line,white) width:5 anchor:till align:left color:miocene bar:NAM1 from: -11.608 till: 0 text: Araeosteus color:pliocene bar:NAM2 from: -5.332 till: 0 text: Anarhichas color:pliocene bar:NAM3 from: -5.332 till: 0 text: Lycodopsis color:pliocene bar:NAM4 from: -5.332 till: 0 text: Lyconectes color:pleistocene bar:NAM5 from: -2.588 till: 0 text: Anarrhichthys color:pleistocene bar:NAM6 from: -2.588 till: 0 text: Zoarces PlotData= align:center textcolor:black fontsize:M mark:(line,black) width:25 bar:period from: -65.5 till: -55.8 color:paleocene text:Paleocene from: -55.8 till: -33.9 color:eocene text:Eocene from: -33.9 till: -23.03 color:oligocene text:Oligocene from: -23.03 till: -5.332 color:miocene text:Miocene from: -5.332 till: -2.588 color:pliocene text:Plio. from: -2.588 till: -0.0117 color:pleistocene text:Pleist. from: -0.0117 till: 0 color:holocene text:H. bar:era from: -65.5 till: -23.03 color:paleogene text:Paleogene from: -23.03 till: -2.588 color:neogene text:Neogene from: -2.588 till: 0 color:quaternary text:Q. ==References==