Scorpaenoidei is a suborder of ray-finned fishes, part of the order Perciformes, that includes the scorpionfishes, lionfishes and velvetfishes. This suborder is at its most diverse in the Pacific and Indian Oceans but is also found in the Atlantic Ocean.

Scorpaenoidei
Scorpaena porcus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Suborder: Scorpaenoidei
Garman, 1899[1]
Families

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Taxonomy

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Scorpaenoidei was first named as a suborder in 1899 by the American ichthyologist Samuel Garman[2] as a suborder of the Perciformes.[1] Some authorities still treat the suborder as being part of the Perciformes[3] but the 5th Edition of Fishes of the World recognises the Scorpaeniformes as a valid order and places this suborder within it.[4] The subfamilies of the family Scorpaenidae are treated as families by some authors.[3] It has been argued by some authors that the suborder is paraphyletic and that a more correct classification is that the grouping, with some differences, be placed on the superfamily Scorpaenoidea.[5]

Families and subfamilies

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The suborder Scorpaenoidei is classified into families and subfamilies in the 5th Edition of Fishes of the World as follows:[4][6]

Suborder Scorpaenoidei

Characteristics

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Scorpaenoidei is rather varied grouping of around 470 species of moderately-sized fishes which have 24 to 44 vertebrae and the ribs towards the head are either absent or rigidly attached to the spine.[7]

Distribution and habitat

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Scorpaenoidei are found in all the tropical and temperate oceans of the world but most species are found in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The suborder includes benthic and pelagic species and marine and freshwater species.[4]

Venom

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Scorpaenoidei contains some of the most venomous fish species known, including lionfishes, stonefishes and other scorpionfishes.[4] Velvetfishes are also venomous.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Suborder Scorpaenoidei Garman 1899 (perch-like fish)". Fossilworks. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  2. ^ "Scorpaenidae". mindat. Hudson Institute of Mineralogy. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  3. ^ a b Ricardo Betancur-R; Edward O. Wiley; Gloria Arratia; et al. (2017). "Phylogenetic classification of bony fishes". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 17 (162). doi:10.1186/s12862-017-0958-3. PMC 5501477.
  4. ^ a b c d J. S. Nelson; T. C. Grande; M. V. H. Wilson (2016). Fishes of the World (5th ed.). Wiley. pp. 468–475. ISBN 978-1-118-34233-6.
  5. ^ Hisashi Imamura (2004). "Phylogenetic Relationships and New Classification of the Superfamily Scorpaenoidea (Actinopterygii: Perciformes)". Species Diversity. 9: 1–36.
  6. ^ Richard van der Laan; William N. Eschmeyer & Ronald Fricke (2014). "Family-group names of Recent fishes". Zootaxa. 3882 (2): 001–230. Archived from the original on 2021-03-10. Retrieved 2020-02-21.
  7. ^ "Scorpaeniformes". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 28 October 2021.