Notacanthiformes is an
orderIn scientific classification used in biology, the order is# a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family...
of deep-sea ray-finned fishes, consisting of the families Halosauridae and
NotacanthidaeThe deep-sea spiny eels are a family, Notacanthidae, of fishes found worldwide below , and going as deep as .Their bodies of deep sea spiny eels are greatly elongated, though more tapered than in true eels. The caudal fin is small or nonexistent, while the anal fin is lengthy, as long as half of...
(
spiny eelThe name spiny eel is used to describe members of two different families of fish: the freshwater Mastacembelidae of Asia and Africa, and the marine Notacanthidae. Both are so-named because of their eel-like shape and sturdy fin spines....
s)
The order is of relatively recent vintage;
Fishes of the WorldFishes of the World by Joseph S. Nelson is a standard reference for fish systematics. Now in its fourth edition, the work is a comprehensive overview of the 25,000-plus species known to science....
lists it as a suborder
Notacanthoidei of Albuliformes. The notacanthiforms are much more
eelTrue eels are an order of fish, which consists of four suborders, 19 families, 110 genera and approximately 600 species. Most eels are predators...
-like than the albuliforms; for instance, the caudal fin has disappeared.
Fish of the order are found in oceans worldwide, at depths from to .
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Notacanthiformes is an
orderIn scientific classification used in biology, the order is# a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family...
of deep-sea ray-finned fishes, consisting of the families Halosauridae and
NotacanthidaeThe deep-sea spiny eels are a family, Notacanthidae, of fishes found worldwide below , and going as deep as .Their bodies of deep sea spiny eels are greatly elongated, though more tapered than in true eels. The caudal fin is small or nonexistent, while the anal fin is lengthy, as long as half of...
(
spiny eelThe name spiny eel is used to describe members of two different families of fish: the freshwater Mastacembelidae of Asia and Africa, and the marine Notacanthidae. Both are so-named because of their eel-like shape and sturdy fin spines....
s)
The order is of relatively recent vintage;
Fishes of the WorldFishes of the World by Joseph S. Nelson is a standard reference for fish systematics. Now in its fourth edition, the work is a comprehensive overview of the 25,000-plus species known to science....
lists it as a suborder
Notacanthoidei of Albuliformes. The notacanthiforms are much more
eelTrue eels are an order of fish, which consists of four suborders, 19 families, 110 genera and approximately 600 species. Most eels are predators...
-like than the albuliforms; for instance, the caudal fin has disappeared.
Fish of the order are found in oceans worldwide, at depths from to . They are elongated fish, although not as much so as the true eels. They typically feed on slow-moving or sessile animals, such as molluscs,
echinodermEchinoderm, there are seven main classes of Echinoderms which are brittle stars, basket stars, sea urchins, sand dollars, sea lilies, feather stars, and sea cucumbers...
s, and
sea anemoneSea anemones are a group of water dwelling, predatory animals of the order Actiniaria; they are named after the anemone, a terrestrial flower...
s. Like the true eels, they have a
leptocephalusA leptocephalus is the flat and transparent larva of the eel and other members of the Superorder Elopomorpha, including the conger, tarpon, bonefish,and pelican eel....
larva that floats in the surface waters before transforming into an adult. Unusually, the larva can often be larger than the adult.