The Stephanoberycoidei is a suborder of marine ray-finned fishes, consisting of about 68 species, the majority (61) of which belong to the ridgehead family (Melamphaidae). They were formerly placed as their own order, the Stephanoberyciformes.
The Stephanoberyciformes are mostly uncommon deep-sea species with little, if any, importance to commercial fishery. They share many morphological similarities with the Berycoidei, their sister order. They are usually found in Australian waters. The whalefishes, which were formerly treated as their own order, are now also placed in this group. Some families treat them as a superfamily within the group named Cetomimoidea; most taxa traditionally placed here would then be the Stephanoberycoidea.
The families are:
Despite their distinctive appearance, this clade is only thought to have diverged from the Berycoidei during the Paleocene. Potentially the earliest fossil record of the group is of a Rondeletia-like whalefish from the earliest Eocene-aged Fur Formation of Denmark.
Footnotes
References
- (2006): Fishes of the World (4th ed.). <small></small>
- (2001): Larvae and juveniles of the deepsea "whalefishes" Barbourisia and Rondeletia (Stephanoberyciformes: Barbourisiidae, Rondeletiidae), with comments on family relationships. Records of the Australian Museum 53(3): 407-425. PDF fulltext