Spiny-rayed fishes
Acanthomorpha
Acanthomorpha (meaning "thorn-shaped") is an extraordinarily diverse taxon of teleost fishes with spiny fin rays. The clade contains about one-third of the world's modern species of vertebrates: over 14,000 species.
A key anatomical innovation in acanthomorphs is hollow and unsegmented spines at the anterior edge of the dorsal and anal fins. A fish can extend these sharp bony spines to protect itself from predators, but can also retract them to decrease drag when swimming. Another shared feature is a particular rostral cartilage, associated with ligaments attached to the rostrum and premaxilla, that enables the fish to protrude its jaws considerably to catch food.
28 branches of this group, most-observed first · about 20,269 known species
Butterflyfishes, Angelfishes, and Allies
orderAcanthuriformes
Perches, Scorpionfishes, Sticklebacks, and Allies
orderPerciformes
Blennies, Damselfishes and Allies
orderBlenniiformes
Freshwater Sunfishes, Grunters, and Allies
orderCentrarchiformes
Wrasses and allies
orderLabriformes
Puffers and Filefishes
orderTetraodontiformes
Gobies, cardinalfishes and allies
orderGobiiformes
Jacks, Flounders, Barracudas, and Allies
orderCarangiformes
Pipefishes and Allies
orderSyngnathiformes
Rivulines, Killifishes, and Livebearers
orderCyprinodontiformes
Cichlids and Allies
orderCichliformes
Mullets and Glassfishes
orderMugiliformes
Needlefishes, Halfbeaks, and Allies
orderBeloniformes
Mackerels, Tunas, Butterfishes, and Allies
orderScombriformes
Sawbellies and squirrelfishes
orderBeryciformes
Silversides
orderAtheriniformes
Leaffishes, Snakeheads, and Gouramis
orderAnabantiformes
Cods and Hakes
orderGadiformes
Anglerfishes
orderLophiiformes
Oceanic Basses
orderAcropomatiformes
Toadfishes
orderBatrachoidiformes
Swamp Eels
orderSynbranchiformes
Trout-perches, Pirate Perches, and Cavefishes
orderPercopsiformes
Cusk-eels
orderOphidiiformes
Lanterneyes, fangtooths and allies
orderTrachichthyiformes
Dories
orderZeiformes
Velifers, Opahs, and Ribbonfishes
orderLampriformes
Beardfishes
orderPolymixiiformes
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
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Every page naming Acanthomorpha in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 1632273.