Order Summary for Gonorynchiformes

  Main Ref
:
  Order
:
Gonorynchiformes milkfishes
  Class
:
Teleostei
  Sister Order
:
Cypriniformes 150 M years
  Ref.
:
  First Fossil Record
:
late Jurassic
  Occurs in
:
Marine
Fresh
Brackish
  Remark
:
Orbitosphenoid absent; parietals small; quadrate condyle far forward; teeth absent on fifth ceratobranchial; first three vertebrae specialized and associated with one or more cephalic ribs; suprabranchial (=epibranchial) organ present (consisting of lateral pouches in the posterior part of the branchial chamber behind the fourth epibranchials); mouth small; jaws toothless; no postcleithra; 5-7 hypural plates.
  Class etymology
:
Greek aktis = ray, thunderbolt, beam + Greek pterygion, diminutive of pteryx = wing, fin. Ref. 45335.
  Order etymology
:
Greek, gonos = descent, origin + Greek, rhyngchos = snout, muzzle + Latin, forma = shape (Ref. 45335).
  Families
:

Ref.
[ e.g. 9948]                       
Glossary
                    [ e.g. cephalopods]

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