Zoarcoidei

Zoarcoidei is a suborder of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the order Perciformes. The suborder includes the wolffishes, gunnels and eelpouts. The suborder includes about 400 species. These fishes predominantly found in the boreal seas of the northern hemisphere but they have colonised the southern hemisphere.

Zoarcoidei
Atlantic wolffish Anarhichas lupus
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Perciformes
Suborder:	Zoarcoidei
Families
see text

Taxonomy

Zoarcoidei was first proposed as a taxonomic grouping by the American zoologist Theodore Gill in 1893 as the superfamily Zoarceoidea.^[1] The 5th edition of Fishes of the World classifies the Zoarcoidei as a suborder within the order Scorpaeniformes.^[2] 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 non monophyletic.^[3] The monophyly of this grouping has still not been fully ascertained but it is generally accepted that the most basal family is Bathymasteridae.^[2]

Timeline

Superfamilies and Families

Zoarcoidei has the following superfamilies and families classified under it:^[2][4]

• Superfamily:Anarhichadoidea
  • Family:Anarhichadidae Bonaparte, 1835 (wolffishes)
  • Family:Cryptacanthodidae Gill, 1861
  • Family:Pholidae Gill, 1893 (gunnels)
  • Family:Stichaeidae Gill, 1864 (pricklebacks)
• Superfamily:Bathymasteroidea
  • Family:Ptilichthyidae Jordan & Gilbert, 1883 (Quillfish)
  • Family:Bathymasteridae Jordan & Gilbert, 1883 (ronquils)
• Superfamily:Zaproroidea
  • Family:Scytalinidae Jordan & Starks, 1895
  • Family:Zaproridae Jordan, 1896 (prowfish)
• Superfamily:Zoarcoidea
  • Family:Eulophiidae H. M. Smith, 1902 (Spinous eelpouts)^[5]
  • Family:Zoarcidae Swainson, 1839 (eelpouts)

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.^[6]

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.^[2]

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.^[7]