Cichliformes
| Cichliformes Temporal range:
| |
|---|---|
| Pholidichthys leucotaenia, the convict blenny | |
| Pterophyllum scalare, the freshwater angelfish, a cichlid | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Clade: | Ovalentaria |
| Order: | Cichliformes R. Betancur-R et al. 2013 |
| Type species | |
| Cichla ocellaris Bloch & Schneider, 1801
| |
| Families | |
Cichliformes /ˈsɪklɪfɔːrmiːz/ is an order of ray-finned fish. Its members were previously classified under the order Perciformes, but now many authorities consider it to be an independent order within the subseries Ovalentaria. The earliest fossils are known from the Eocene.[1]
Taxonomy
According to the Catalog of Fishes (2025), the following three families are contained in the order:[2]
- Polycentridae T. N. Gill, 1858 (leaffishes)
- Pholidichthyidae D.S. Jordan, 1896[3] (convict blennies)
- Cichlidae Bonaparte, 1835 [4] (cichlids)
Among the three families, the leaffishes are a small family consisting of four genera and five species, the convict blennies are a small family consisting of a single genus and two species, and the cichlids are one of the largest vertebrate families with over 202 genera and more than 1700 described species. These families look physically dissimilar from one another, with only molecular data revealing their close relationships.[5]
References
- ^ Murray, Alison M. (2022). "Cenozoic Cichlids of Africa (Cichlidae: Pseudocrenilabrinae) With the Description of a New Species From the Oligocene of Somalia". Frontiers in Earth Science. 10. Bibcode:2022FrEaS..10.2301M. doi:10.3389/feart.2022.892301. ISSN 2296-6463.
- ^ Fricke, R.; Eschmeyer, W. N.; Van der Laan, R. (2025). "ESCHMEYER'S CATALOG OF FISHES: CLASSIFICATION". California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 2025-02-10.
- ^ Bailly N, ed. (2017). "Pholidichthyidae Jordan, 1896". FishBase. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
- ^ Bailly N, ed. (2015). "Cichlidae Bonaparte, 1835". FishBase. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
- ^ J. S. Nelson; T. C. Grande; M. V. H. Wilson (2016). Fishes of the World (5th ed.). Wiley. p. 752. ISBN 978-1-118-34233-6. Archived from the original on 2019-04-08. Retrieved 2018-11-05.