| Elopomorpha | |
|---|---|
| Anguilla anguilla | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Superorder: | Elopomorpha |
| Orders | |
|
Elopiformes |
|
The superorder Elopomorpha contains a variety of types of fishes that range from typical silvery colored fish-like species such as the tarpons and ladyfishes of the Elopiformes and the bonefishes of the Albuliformes, to the long and slender, smooth bodied eels of the Anguilliformes. The one characteristic that unites this group of fishes is that they all have leptocephalus larvae, which are the unique larval form of the Elopomorpha. No other fishes have this type of larvae.
Elopomorpha is a group of Teleostei fishes that was historically separated into the following taxonomic groups:
Recent molecular genetic data has shown however, that the Notocanthiformes is part of the Albuliformes, and that the Saccopharyngiformes is part of the Anguilliformes.