The Zeidae (named after the fish zaeus from Pliny the Elder) are a family of large, showy, deep-bodied zeiform marine fish—the "true dories". Found in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans, the family contains just six species in two genera. All species are important and highly regarded food fish supporting commercial fisheries, and some—such as the John Dory (Zeus faber)—are enjoyed in large public aquaria.
Several other families have members sharing the common name 'dory', some of which—i.e., those of genera Capromimus, Cyttomimus, and Cyttus—were once placed within the Zeidae. The first two genera are now found within the Zenionidae (or Zeniontidae), and the last genus has been given its own family, Cyttidae.
Description
All dories share the same roughly discoid, laterally compressed body plan. The head is large and sloping to concave in profile with thin and soft bones