Template:Short description Template:Automatic taxobox The Osmeriformes Template:IPAc-en are an order of ray-finned fish that includes the true or freshwater smelts and allies, such as the noodlefishes; they are also collectively called osmeriforms. They belong to the teleost superorder Protacanthopterygii, which also includes pike and salmon, among others.<ref name=":1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The order's name means "smelt-shaped", from Osmerus (the type genus) + the standard fish order suffix "-formes". It ultimately derives from Ancient Greek osmé (ὀσμή, "pungent smell") + Latin forma ("external form"), the former in reference to the characteristic aroma of the flesh of Osmerus.<ref>Woodhouse, S.C. (1910): English-Greek Dictionary - A Vocabulary of the Attic Language. George Routledge & Sons Ltd., Broadway House, Ludgate Hill, E.C. Searchable JPEG fulltext</ref><ref>Glare, P.G.W. (ed.) (1968–1982): Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed.). Oxford University Press, Oxford. Template:ISBN </ref><ref name = fishbase>FishBase (2006): Order Osmeriformes. Version of 2006-OCT-09. Retrieved 2009-SEP-28.</ref>

In the classification used here, the order Osmeriformes contains two suborders, four families, some 17 genera, and about 52species.<ref name=":3">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The "marine" smelts and allies (e.g. the odd-looking barreleyes) were formerly included here as suborder Argentinoidei; they are now usually considered more distantly related than it was believed and treated as order Argentiniformes. When the marine smelts were included here, the subdivisions of the Osmeriformes were down-ranked by one.<ref name="Nelson">Nelson, Joseph S. (2006): Fishes of the World (4th ed.). John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Template:ISBN pp.194-199</ref> The galaxiids were also previously placed in this order, being treated as allied with the retropinnids, but are now known to represent their own, distinct order.<ref name=":12">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Description and ecologyEdit

File:Silverbait.jpg
Noodlefish (Salangidae) are unusual osmeriforms that are commonly harvested

Osmeriformes are small to mid-sized slender fish. Their maxilla is usually included in the mouth's gape, and most of them have an adipose fin as is often found in the Protacanthopterygii. Their [pterosphenoid] usually has a ventral flange, and the vomer has a short posterior shaft. They have reduced or even missing articular and mesopterygoid teeth, and the basisphenoid and orbitosphenoid bones are entirely absent. Their scales lack radii.<ref name="Nelson" />

Despite the term "freshwater smelts", the members of the Osmeriformes are generally marine, amphidromous or anadromous migrants. Even the sedentary freshwater species in this family are usually tolerant of considerable changes in salinity. Almost all osmeriforms spawn in fresh water, thus the marine species are generally anadromous. They are found in temperate oceans worldwide and in temperate freshwater of the Holarctic and around the South Pacific region; only a handful of species occur in tropical waters. The eggs are surrounded by an adhesive membrane.<ref name="Nelson" />

SystematicsEdit

File:Retropinna retropinna 268695859.jpg
New Zealand smelt (Retropinna retropinna), one of the few species in the Retropinnidae

With the Argentiniformes, Alepocephaliformes, Galaxiiformes, and Lepidogalaxiiformes separated as distinct orders, the remaining Osmeriformes appear to be a monophyletic group. As protacanthopterygians, they are known to be related to the Salmoniformes (pikes and salmon). However, more recent studies incorporating anatomical and DNA sequence data suggest that their closest relatives are the deep-sea Stomiiformes.<ref name=":2">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name=":13">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

The classification of the Osmeriformes as approached here is:<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":13" /><ref name="Betancur-Rodriguez2017">Template:Cite journal</ref>

File:Spaniodon latus 45.jpg
The Late Cretaceous-aged Spaniodon potentially represents an early osmeriform<ref name=":2" />

A possible fossil osmeriform is Spaniodon, a piscivore from Late Cretaceous seas.<ref name=":2" /> The group originated probably somewhat earlier, but a Cretaceous age maybe about 110 million years ago or so is likely.<ref name="fishbase" /><ref name="Nelson" /> The oldest definite osmeriform is Speirsaenigma from the Paleocene of Alberta, Canada, which was a relative of the modern ayu fish and appears to have been a freshwater species.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2025, a new, extinct family of freshwater Southern Hemisphere smelt, the Ferruaspidae, was identified from the Miocene-aged McGraths Flat fossil site of Australia.<ref name=":0" />

The families Galaxiidae and Lepidogalaxiidae were at one time placed together with Retropinnidae in the sub order Galaxoidei, however with new molecular studies they have been elevated to the ordinal level.<ref name="Betancur-Rodriguez2017" />

Timeline of generaEdit

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from: -99.6    till: -66    color:latecretaceous    text:Late
from: -66   till:  -55.8    color:paleocene  text:Paleo.
from: -55.8   till:  -33.9    color:eocene  text:Eo. 
from: -33.9   till:  -23.03    color:oligocene  text:Oligo.            
from: -23.03    till: -5.332    color:miocene    text:Mio.
from: -5.332    till: -2.588    color:pliocene    text:Pl.
from: -2.588    till: -0.0117   color:pleistocene    text:Pl.
from: -0.0117    till: 0    color:holocene    text:H.
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color:eocene bar:NAM2  from:	-55.8	till:	0	text:	Osmerus
color:eocene bar:NAM3  from:	-55.8	till:	0	text:	Argentina
color:eocene bar:NAM4  from:	-48.6	till:	-28.4	text:	Proargentina
color:eocene bar:NAM5  from:	-37.2	till:	0	text:	Ophisthoproctus
color:oligocene bar:NAM6  from:	-33.9	till:	-28.4	text:	Enoplophthalmus
color:oligocene bar:NAM7  from:	-28.4	till:	-23.03	text:	Carpathichthys
color:oligocene bar:NAM8  from:	-28.4	till:	0	text:	Hypomesus
color:miocene bar:NAM9  from:	-15.97	till:	0	text:	Bathylagus
color:miocene bar:NAM10  from:	-11.608	till:	0	text:	Nansenia
color:pliocene bar:NAM11  from:	-5.332	till:	0	text:	Spirinchus
color:pliocene bar:NAM12  from:	-5.332	till:	0	text:	Maulisia
color:pleistocene bar:NAM13  from:	-2.588	till:	0	text:	Mallotus
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from: -99.6    till: -66    color:latecretaceous    text:Late
from: -66   till:  -55.8    color:paleocene  text:Paleo.
from: -55.8   till:  -33.9    color:eocene  text:Eo. 
from: -33.9   till:  -23.03    color:oligocene  text:Oligo.            
from: -23.03    till: -5.332    color:miocene    text:Mio.
from: -5.332    till: -2.588    color:pliocene    text:Pl.
from: -2.588    till: -0.0117   color:pleistocene    text:Pl.
from: -0.0117    till: 0    color:holocene    text:H.
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from: -145.5    till: -66   color:cretaceous    text:Cretaceous
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ReferencesEdit

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Further readingEdit

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