Scorpaeniformes is an order of
ray-finned fishThe Actinopterygii constitute the class of the ray-finned fishes.The ray-finned fishes are so called because they possess lepidotrichia or "fin rays", their fins being webs of skin supported by bony or horny spines , as opposed to the fleshy, lobed fins that characterize the class Sarcopterygii...
, but it has also been called the
Scleroparei.
They are known as "mail-cheeked" fishes due to their distinguishing characteristic, the suborbital stay: a backwards extension of the third circumorbital bone (part of the lateral head/cheek skeleton, below the eye socket) across the cheek to the pre
operculumThe operculum of a bony fish is the hard bony flap covering and protecting the gills. In most fish, the rear edge of the operculum roughly marks the division between the head and the body. The operculum is composed of four fused bones; the opercle, preopercle, interopercle, and subopercle...
, to which it is connected in most species.
Scorpaeniform fishes are
carnivorousA carnivore , meaning 'meat eater' , is an animal that derives its energy and nutrient requirements from a diet consisting mainly or exclusively of vertebrate and/or invertebrate animal tissue, whether through predation or scavenging...
, mostly feeding on crustaceans and on smaller fish.
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Scorpaeniformes is an order of
ray-finned fishThe Actinopterygii constitute the class of the ray-finned fishes.The ray-finned fishes are so called because they possess lepidotrichia or "fin rays", their fins being webs of skin supported by bony or horny spines , as opposed to the fleshy, lobed fins that characterize the class Sarcopterygii...
, but it has also been called the
Scleroparei.
They are known as "mail-cheeked" fishes due to their distinguishing characteristic, the suborbital stay: a backwards extension of the third circumorbital bone (part of the lateral head/cheek skeleton, below the eye socket) across the cheek to the pre
operculumThe operculum of a bony fish is the hard bony flap covering and protecting the gills. In most fish, the rear edge of the operculum roughly marks the division between the head and the body. The operculum is composed of four fused bones; the opercle, preopercle, interopercle, and subopercle...
, to which it is connected in most species.
Scorpaeniform fishes are
carnivorousA carnivore , meaning 'meat eater' , is an animal that derives its energy and nutrient requirements from a diet consisting mainly or exclusively of vertebrate and/or invertebrate animal tissue, whether through predation or scavenging...
, mostly feeding on crustaceans and on smaller fish. Most species live on the sea bottom in relatively shallow waters, although species are known from deep water, from the mid-water, and even from fresh water. They typically have spiny heads, and rounded pectoral and caudal fins. Most species are less than in length, but the full size range of the order varies from the
velvetfishLittle velvetfishes or simply velvetfishes are a family, the Aploactinidae, of scorpaeniform fishes.As the name implies, they are small fish, that have skin with a velvet texture. They are generally flattened in shape, with small pelvic fins, and a fleshy pad under the head, which, in at least one...
es, which can be just long as adults, to the
LingcodThe lingcod, Ophiodon elongatus, is a fish of the greenling family Hexagrammidae. It is the only member of the genus Ophiodon....
, which can reach in length.
Classification
The division of Scorpaeniformes into families is not settled; accounts range from 26 families to 35 families.
Order
Scorpaeniformes
- Suborder Anoplopomatoidei
The sablefishes are a family, Anoplopomatidae, of scorpaeniform fishes. They are found in coastal waters of the north Pacific from Japan to California, where they live near the sea floor in deep water: the sablefish, Anoplopoma fimbria, has been found down to . They are large fish, with the...
- Anoplopomatidae
The sablefishes are a family, Anoplopomatidae, of scorpaeniform fishes. They are found in coastal waters of the north Pacific from Japan to California, where they live near the sea floor in deep water: the sablefish, Anoplopoma fimbria, has been found down to . They are large fish, with the...
(sablefishThe sablefish, Anoplopoma fimbria, is one of two members of the fish family Anoplopomatidae and the only species in the Anoplopoma genus...
and skilfishThe skilfish, Erilepis zonifer, is one of two members of the fish family Anoplopomatidae and the only species in the Erilepis genus. Found on deep rocky bottoms in the North Pacific at depths of up to 440 metres, they can reach up to 1.83 metres in length and weigh up to 91 kilograms...
)
- Suborder Cottoidei
- Superfamily Cottoidea
- Abyssocottidae
The deep-water sculpins are a small family, Abyssocottidae, of sculpins that are almost entirely restricted to Lake Baikal in Siberia, most of them living at depths below 170 m....
(deep-water sculpins)
- Agonidae
The poachers are a family of small bottom-dwelling cold-water marine fish. They are notable for having elongated bodies covered by scales modified into bony plates, and for using their large pectoral fins to move in short bursts...
(poachers)
- Bathylutichthyidae
- Comephoridae (Baikal oilfishes)
- Cottidae
Sculpins are a family of fish that make up the Cottidae in the Order Scorpaeniformes. There are about 300 species in 70 genera that are mostly marine and found in shallow coastal waters in the northern and arctic regions....
(sculpinA Sculpin is a fish that belongs to the Order Scorpaeniformes, Suborder Cottoidei and Superfamily Cottoidea that contains 11 families, 149 genera, and 756 species according to though these totals will likely change as more molecular work is done...
s)
- Cottocomephoridae (Baikal sculpin
Baikal sculpins, , are a family of scorpaeniform fishes.-Genera:* Batrachocottus* Cottocomephorus* Leocottus* Paracottus...
s)
- Ereuniidae
Ereuniidae is a family of scorpaeniform fishes. They are native to deep marine waters around Japan. The lower four rays of the pectoral fin are elongated and free.-Species:There are three species in two genera:* Genus Ereunias...
- Hemitripteridae (sea raven
Sea ravens are a family, Hemitripteridae of scorpaeniform fishes. They are bottom-dwelling fishes that feed on small invertebrates, found in the northwest Atlantic and north Pacific oceans...
s and sailfin sculpins)
- Icelidae (scaled sculpin
Scaled sculpins are a group of small benthic fishes living in cold waters. They are mainly found in the North Pacific, with some species in the North Atlantic. They are characterized by a large, laterally compressed head and small spines...
s)
- Psychrolutidae
The fish family Psychrolutidae contains the fatheads or fathead sculpins, including the blobfishes. There are 9 genera and about 30 species. This poorly known family consists of bottom-dwelling marine sculpins shaped like tadpoles, with large heads and bodies that taper back into small, flat tails...
(fatheads)
- Rhamphocottidae (grunt sculpin
The grunt sculpin or grunt-fish, Rhamphocottus richardsonii, is the only member of the fish family Rhamphocottidae. It is native to temperate coastal waters of the North Pacific, from Japan to Alaska and south to California where it inhabits tide pools, rocky areas, and sandy bottoms at depths of...
)
- Superfamily Cyclopteroidea
- Cyclopteridae (lumpsucker
Lumpsuckers or lumpfish are mostly small scorpaeniform marine fish of the family Cyclopteridae. They are found in the cold waters of the Arctic, North Atlantic, and North Pacific oceans...
s)
- Liparidae
Snailfishes are scorpaeniform marine fish of the family Liparidae. Widely distributed from the Arctic to Antarctic Oceans including the northern Pacific, the snailfish family contains approximately 23 genera and 195 species. They are closely related to the sculpins of the Cottidae family and the...
(snailfishSnailfishes are scorpaeniform marine fish of the family Liparidae. Widely distributed from the Arctic to Antarctic Oceans including the northern Pacific, the snailfish family contains approximately 23 genera and 195 species. They are closely related to the sculpins of the Cottidae family and the...
es)
- Suborder Dactylopteroidei
- Dactylopteridae
The flying gurnards are a family, Dactylopteridae, of marine fish notable for their greatly enlarged pectoral fins. As they cannot literally fly, an alternative name preferred by some authors is helmet gurnards...
(flying gurnards)
- Suborder Hexagrammoidei
- Hexagrammidae
The family of marine fishes Hexagrammidae incorporates the greenlings. These fish are found on the continental shelf in the temperate or subarctic waters of the North Pacific. They are a well-known family in the littoral zone from southern California north to the Aleutian Islands...
(greenlings)
- Suborder Normanichthyiodei
- Suborder Platycephaloidei
- Bembridae
The Deep-water flatheads are a family, the Bembridae, of bottom-dwelling fish. They are thought to be more primitive than their close relatives, the true flatheads...
(deepwater flatheads)
- Hoplichthyidae (ghost flathead
Hoplichthyidae is a family of scorpaeniform fishes native to the Indo-Pacific Oceans, commonly known as ghost flatheads. There is a single genus, Hoplichthys....
s)
- Parabembridae
- Platycephalidae
Platycephalidae is a family of marine fishes, most commonly referred to as flatheads. They are relatives of the popular lionfishes, belonging to the order Scorpaeniformes....
(flatheadFlathead may refer to:* A flat-head screwdriver or screw.* Flathead engine, a valve configuration* Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Nation, a Native American group* Platycephalidae, a family of fish...
s)
- Suborder Scorpaenoidei
- Apistidae
Apistidae is a family of fish that includes the waspfishes. They are 19 – 20 cm in length.-Species:* Genus Apistops** Short-armed Waspfish, Apistops caloundra * Genus Apistus...
- Aploactinidae (velvetfish
Little velvetfishes or simply velvetfishes are a family, the Aploactinidae, of scorpaeniform fishes.As the name implies, they are small fish, that have skin with a velvet texture. They are generally flattened in shape, with small pelvic fins, and a fleshy pad under the head, which, in at least one...
es)
- Caracanthidae
The coral crouchers, or orbicular velvetfishes, are a family, the Caracanthidae, of Scorpaeniform fishes. They live in coral reefs of the tropical Indo-Pacific. Only four species are known....
(orbicular velvetfishes)
- Congiopodidae
Congiopodidae is a family of scorpaeniform fishes native to the southern hemisphere, commonly known as pigfishes, horsefishes and racehorses.Congiopids live on the bottom of shallow temperate and sub-Antarctic seas, at depths of up to...
(horsefishes and pigfishPigfish may refer to:* Fishes in the family Congiopodidae* Redmouth grunt, Orthopristis chrysoptera* Corocoro grunt, Orthopristis ruber* Golden-spot hogfish, Bodianus perditio* Red pigfish, Bodianus unimaculatus...
es)
- Eschmeyeridae
- Gnathanacanthidae (red velvetfish
The red velvetfish, Gnathanacanthus goetzeei, is a marine scorpaeniform fish of the inshore waters of western and southern Australia. It is the sole member of the family Gnathanacanthidae and genus Gnathanacanthus....
)
- Neosebastidae
- Pataecidae (Australian prowfish
Australian prowfishes are a family, Pataecidae, of scorpaeniform fishes. They are distinguished by a long dorsal fin that begins far forward on the head, forming a "prow" shape, and extends all the way to the caudal fin...
es)
- Peristediidae
- Plectrogenidae
- Scorpaenidae (scorpionfish
Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfish, are a family of mostly marine fish that includes many of the world's most venomous species. As the name suggests, scorpionfish have a type of "sting" in the form of sharp spines coated with venomous mucus. The family is a large one, with hundreds of members. They are...
es and rockfishRockfish may refer to one of the following fishes:* Striped bass, a member of the Moronidae family that spawns in the mid-Atlantic United States...
es)
- Sebastidae
Sebastidae is a family of marine fish in the order Scorpaeniformes. Their common names include rockfishes, rockcods and thornyheads, but this is unhelpful since they are not closely related to the cods in the genus Gadus, nor the rock cod, Lotella rhacina.Not all authorities recognise this family...
- Setarchidae
Setarchidae is a small family of scorpionfishes.Not all classifications recognise this family; Nelson and ITIS include it in the family Scorpaenidae....
- Synanceiidae (stonefish
Synanceja verrucosa is a fish species, sometimes lethal to humans, which is known as the reef stonefish or simply stonefish. They are carnivorous ray-finned fish with venomous spines that lives on reef bottoms, camouflaged as a rock...
es)
- Tetrarogidae
The waspfishes are a family, the Tetrarogidae, of scorpaeniform fishes native to the Indian Ocean and the West Pacific. They are closely related to the scorpionfishes. As their name suggests, waspfishes are often venomous...
(waspfishes)
- Triglidae (searobins)