- Source: Acropomatiformes
The Acropomatiformes or Pempheriformes are an order of fish from the group of perch relatives Percomorpha. The relationship of the families assigned to the Acropomatiformes is based on molecular biological studies and is not yet supported by morphological characteristics.
Stereolepis gigas, with a maximum length of 2.5 m, the largest species of the Pempheriformes.
As early as 2007, Smith and Craig established a relationship between the wreckfish Polyprionidae, the longfin pike Dinolestes lewini, the armored heads Pentacerotidae and the lanternbellies Acropomatidae. In February 2009, Blaise Li and colleagues described a monophyletic clade composed of the Howellidae, the Lateolabracidae and the deep-sea cardinalfishes Epigonidae in their analysis of the relationships between the various groups of the Acanthomorpha.
In a revision of the bony fish systematics published in early 2013 by Ricardo Betancur-R. and colleagues, an order Pempheriformes with a total of 14 families was introduced as a new order of the perch-like family Percomorphaceae. The families assigned to this order previously belonged to the order of the perch-like family Perciformes. However, with the advent of cladistics and the method of DNA comparison for relationship analysis, it became clear that the Perciformes do not represent a monophylum. In October 2015, two and in October 2018 four more families were added, so that the order Pempheriformes comprises a total of 20 fish families at the end of 2018. Davis, Sparks and Smith changed the name of the order to Acropomatiformes in 2016, which was adopted by FishBase and Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes, two online databases on the systematics of fish.
Lifestyle
All species of Acropomatiformes live in the sea, some also live in brackish water, no species lives in fresh water. Numerous species of Acropomatiformes have the ability to bioluminescence. This ability has arisen four to five times independently within the Acropomatiformes.
Systematics
The Acropomatiformes include over 300 species in 20 families worldwide.
Acropomatidae (lanternbellies), 12 species
Banjosidae (banjofish), 3 species
Bathyclupeidae (deep-sea herrings), 10 species
Champsodontidae (crocodile tooth fish), 13 species
Creediidae (sand cave fishes), 18 species
Dinolestidae (long-finned pike), 1 species
Epigonidae (deepwater cardinalfishes), 46 species
Glaucosomatidae (pearl perches), 4 species
Hemerocoetidae (obtuse sandfish), 26 species
Howellidae (oceanic basslets), 8 species
Lateolabracidae (asian seabasses), 3 species
Malakichthyidae (temperate ocean-basses), 15 species
Ostracoberycidae (spinycheek seabass), 3 species
Pempheridae (sweepers), 85 species
Pentacerotidae (armourheads), 14 species
Polyprionidae (wreckfish), 2 species
Scombropidae (gnomefishes),3 species
Stereolepididae (giant sea bass), 2 species
Symphysanodontidae (slopefishes), 13 species
Synagropidae (splitfin ocean-basses), 17 species
incertae sedis: Schuettea (eastern pomfret), 12 species