Percomorpha are the most
diverse group of
teleost fish today. Teleosts, and percomorphs in particular, thrived during the
Cenozoic era. Fossil evidence shows that there was a major increase in size and abundance of teleosts immediately after the
mass extinction event at the
Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary ago. The oldest known percomorph fossils are of the early
tetraodontiforms Protriacanthus and
Cretatriacanthidae from the
Santonian to
Campanian of
Italy and
Slovenia. A higher diversity of early percomorphs is also known from the
Campanian of
Nardò, Italy, and these also show some level of diversification into modern orders, with representatives of the
Syngnathiformes and Tetraodontiformes known. Possibly the oldest percomorph is
Plectocretacicus from the
Cenomanian of
Lebanon, which may be a stem-tetraodontiform; however, some morphological analyses indicate that it shows similarities with non-percomorph groups.
Taxonomy , from the
Devonian to the present as a spindle diagram. The width of the spindles are proportional to the number of families as a rough estimate of diversity. The diagram is based on Benton, M. J. (2005) Vertebrate Palaeontology, Blackwell, 3rd edition, Fig 7.13 on page 185.Many of the orders placed in Percomorpha today were originally placed in an expanded
Perciformes, hence many sources often referring to that order as the most diverse vertebrate clade. However, more recent studies have found such a placement to be paraphyletic, and many have thus been moved to their orders within Percomorpha. Other authorities find a different number of orders depending on the classification used. Numerous fossil percomorphs are known from the Late Cretaceous onwards, but most of these prior to the
Eocene, and many afterwards, cannot be confidently assigned to extant percomorph lineages. • Suborder
Bythoidei –
viviparous and
false brotulas (2 families) • Subseries
Batrachoidida • Order
Batrachoidiformes –
toadfishes (1 family) • Subseries
Gobiida • Order
Gobiiformes • Suborder
Apogonoidei (=order
Kurtiformes sensu auct.) –
nurseryfishes and
cardinalfishes (2 families) • Suborder
Trichonotoidei –
sand divers (1 family) • Suborder
Gobioidei –
gobies,
sleepers and allies (7 families) • Subseries
Syngnatharia • Order
Syngnathiformes • Suborder
Dactylopteroidei –
seamoths and
flying gurnards (2 families) • Suborder
Mulloidei –
goatfishes (1 family) • Suborder
Callionymoidei –
dragonets (2 families) • Suborder
Syngnathoidei –
seahorses,
pipefish,
trumpetfish,
cornetfish and
shrimpfishes (5 families) • Subseries
Pelagiaria • Order
Scombriformes • Suborder
Stromateoidei –
medusafishes,
driftfishes,
butterfishes,
squaretails,
ariommas and allies (6 families) • Suborder
Scombroidei –
mackerel,
tunas,
manefishes,
pomfrets,
cutlassfishes,
bluefish,
swallowers,
ragfish and allies (10 families) • Subseries
Anabantaria • Order
Synbranchiformes • Suborder
Mastacembeloidei –
freshwater spiny eels and
earthworm eels (2 families) • Suborder
Indostomoidei –
armored sticklebacks (1 family) • Suborder
Synbranchoidei –
swamp eels (1 family) • Order
Anabantiformes • Suborder
Anabantoidei –
gouramies and
fighting fishes (3 families) • Suborder
Channoidei –
snakeheads (2 families) • Suborder
Nandoidei –
Asian leaffishes,
chameleonfishes, and
mudperches (3 families) • Subseries
Carangaria • Order
Carangiformes • Suborder
Centropomoidei –
barracudas,
lates perches,
snooks and
false trevally (4 families) • Suborder
Pleuronectoidei –
flatfishes and
threadfins (17 families) • Suborder
Toxotoidei –
archerfishes and
beachsalmons (2 families) • Suborder
Nematistioidei –
roosterfish (1 family) • Suborder
Menoidei –
moonfish and
billfishes (3 families) • Suborder
Carangoidei –
jacks,
trevallies,
pompanos,
remoras,
cobias and
dolphinfishes (4 families) • Subseries
Ovalentaria • Order
Atheriniformes • Suborder
Atherinopsoidei –
Neotropical silversides (1 family) • Suborder
Atherinoidei –
Old World silversides,
rainbowfishes,
priapumfishes and allies (10 families) • Order
Beloniformes • Suborder
Adrianichthyoidei –
ricefishes and
buntingis (1 family) • Suborder
Belonoidei –
sauries,
needlefishes,
halfbeaks and
flyingfishes (5 families) • Order
Cyprinodontiformes • Suborder
Aplocheiloidei – Old and New World
rivulines (3 families) • Suborder
Cyprinodontoidei –
killifishes,
pupfishes,
splitfins,
livebearers,
lampeyes and
four-eyed fishes (11 families) • Order
Cichliformes –
cichlids,
leaffishes and
convict blenny (3 families) • Order
Mugiliformes –
mullets and
Asiatic glassfishes (2 families) • Order
Blenniiformes • Unranked clades –
dottybacks,
roundheads,
damselfishes,
clownfishes,
surfperches and
jawfishes (6 families) • Suborder
Gobiesocoidei –
clingfishes (1 family) • Suborder
Blennioidei –
blennies (6 families) • Subseries
Eupercaria • Order
Perciformes • Suborder
Percoidei –
perches,
darters,
seabasses,
groupers,
anthias,
weeverfishes and
duckbills (9 families) • Suborder
Notothenioidei –
icefishes,
toothfishes,
Antarctic dragonfishes and allies (8 families) • Suborder
Scorpaenoidei –
scorpionfishes,
stonefishes,
rockfishes,
flatheads,
searobins and allies (11 families) • Suborder
Cottoidei –
sculpins,
psychrolutes,
snailfishes,
sablefishes,
greenlings,
poachers,
sandfishes,
lumpfishes and allies (11 families) • Suborder
Gasterosteoidei –
sticklebacks,
Korean sandlance and
tubesnouts (3 families) • Suborder
Zoarcoidei –
eelpouts,
wolffishes,
pricklebacks,
gunnels,
prowfish and allies (14 families) • Order
Centrarchiformes • Suborder
Percalatoidei –
Australian basses (1 undescribed family) • Suborder
Terapontoidei –
grunters,
sea chubs,
flagtails,
knifejaws,
stripeys and allies (9 families) • Suborder
Centrarchoidei –
freshwater sunfish,
Chinese perches,
oldwives,
temperate perch,
jutjaws and allies (7 families) • Suborder
Cirrhitioidei –
hawkfishes,
kelpfishes,
marblefishes,
fingerfins and
trumpeters (5 families) • Order
Labriformes • Suborder
Labroidei –
wrasses,
parrotfishes,
false scorpionfish and
weed whitings (3 families) • Suborder
Uranoscopoidei –
sandlances,
stargazers,
southern sandfishes,
sandperches and
torrentfish (5 families) • Order
Acropomatiformes (=Pempheriformes) –
lanternbellies,
sweepers,
gnomefishes,
wreckfishes,
banjofish,
oceanic basslets,
armorheads and allies (20 families) • Order
Acanthuriformes –
surgeonfishes,
butterflyfishes,
rabbitfishes,
marine angelfishes,
drumfish,
grunts,
ponyfishes,
mojarras,
snappers,
temperate basses,
spadefishes,
porgies,
moonyfish,
tripletails,
tilefish,
scats,
bigeyes,
boarfishes and allies (30 families) • Order
Lophiiformes –
anglerfish • Suborder
Lophioidei –
goosefishes (1 family) • Suborder
Ogcocephaloidei –
batfishes (1 family) • Suborder
Antennarioidei –
frogfishes and
handfishes (1 family) • Suborder
Chaunacoidei –
sea toads (1 family) • Suborder
Ceratioidei –
deep-sea anglerfish (11 families) • Order
Tetraodontiformes • Suborder
Triacanthoidei –
spikefishes and
triplespines (2 families) • Suborder
Tetraodontoidei –
pufferfishes,
porcupinefishes,
ocean sunfishes and allies (4 families) • Suborder
Balistoidei –
boxfishes,
filefishes,
triggerfishes and allies (4 families)
Phylogeny External relationships The two
cladograms below are based on Betancur-R
et al., 2017. Percomorphs are a
clade of
teleost fishes. The first cladogram shows the interrelationships of percomorphs with other living groups of teleosts. }}
Internal relationships The following cladogram shows the
evolutionary relationships of the various groups of
extant percomorph fishes: }} ==References==