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Results for Perciformes
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(vertebrate zoology) The typical spiny-rayed fishes, comprising the largest order of vertebrates; characterized by fin spines, a swim bladder without a duct, usually ctenoid scales, and 17 or fewer caudal fin rays.
The typical spiny-rayed fishes, also known by the ordinal names Acanthopteri and Percomorphi. This is the largest order of vertebrates; the approximately 7500 species include 41% of all fishes. Perciformes include a diversity of structural types and sizes. The characters of the Perciformes include fin spines, usually present; a pelvic fin which, if present, is usually thoracic or jugular in position; the pelvic girdle usually attached to the cleithra, sometimes connected by ligaments; the pelvic fin usually with a spine and 5 soft rays, the latter occasionally reduced; the pectoral fin base more or less vertical, usually placed well up on the side; a swim bladder without a duct; scales usually ctenoid, sometimes secondarily cycloid, absent, or variously modified; and the caudal fin with 17 principal rays (15 branched) or fewer.
Perciform fishes dominate the modern vertebrate life of the oceans and have done so throughout the Cenozoic. The group first appeared in the Upper Cretaceous, after which it underwent a rapid adaptive radiation; many of the basic structural types, as well as most major perciform derivatives such as the Pleuronectiformes and Tetraodontiformes, were present in the Eocene, A few families of perciforms have been notably successful in fresh water. Other families have effectively adapted to life in the deep seas, and still others have become specialized for pelagic existence. It is in the shore areas, the offshore banks, the coral reefs, the coastal beaches and lagoons, and the intertidal zone, however, that the perciforms have attained their ultimate achievement. Here the enormous variety attests to the adaptive effectiveness of the group. See also Actinopterygii; Osteichthyes.
The noun has one meaning:
Meaning #1:
one of the largest natural groups of fishes of both marine and fresh water: true perches; basses; tuna
Synonyms: order Perciformes, Percomorphi, order Percomorphi
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 Yellow perch (Perca flavescens)
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many, see text |
The Perciformes, also called the Percomorphi or Acanthopteri, include about 40% of all fish and are the largest order of vertebrates. The name Perciformes means perch-like. They belong to the ray-finned fish and comprise over 7000 different species, with varying shapes and sizes, found in almost all aquatic environments. They first appeared and diversified in the Late Cretaceous.
Perciform fish typically have dorsal and anal fins divided into anterior spiny and posterior soft-rayed portions, which may be partially or completely separated. There are usually pelvic fins with one spine and up to five soft rays, either positioned by the throat or under the belly. Scales are usually ctenoid in form, though sometimes they are cycloid or otherwise modified. Various other, more technical characters define the group.
Classification is controversial. As traditionally defined the Perciformes are almost certainly paraphyletic. Other orders that should possibly be included as suborders are the Scorpaeniformes, Tetraodontiformes, and Pleuronectiformes. Of the presently recognized suborders several may be paraphyletic as well.
These are grouped by suborder/superfamily, generally following Fishes of the World.
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
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 | Sci-Tech Dictionary. McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms. Copyright © 2003, 1994, 1989, 1984, 1978, 1976, 1974 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Perciformes". Read more |
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