Editing Stephanoberycoidei

{{Short description|Order of ray-finned fishes}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = {{fossil range|55|0|[[Early Eocene]] to present}}
| image = Scopelogadus mizolepis mizolepis.png
| image_upright = 1.1
| image_caption = ''[[Scopelogadus mizolepis|Scopelogadus mizolepis mizolepis]]'', a [[ridgehead]]
| taxon = Stephanoberycoidei
| authority = 
| subdivision_ranks = Families
| subdivision = [[Barbourisiidae]]<br />
[[Cetomimidae]]<br />
[[Gibberichthyidae]]<br />
[[Hispidoberycidae]]<br />
[[Melamphaidae]]<br />
[[Rondeletiidae]]<br />
[[Stephanoberycidae]]
| synonyms = * Cetomimiformes
| type_species = ''[[Stephanoberyx monae]]''
| type_species_authority = [[Theodore Gill|T. N. Gill]], 1883
}}

The '''Stephanoberycoidei''' is a [[suborder]] of marine [[ray-finned fish]]es, consisting of about 68 species, the majority (61) of which belong to the [[ridgehead]] [[family (biology)|family]] (Melamphaidae). They were formerly placed as their own order, the '''Stephanoberyciformes'''.<ref name=":0" /> However, more recent taxonomic sources treat them as a suborder of the Beryciformes.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Fricke |first=R. |last2=Eschmeyer |first2=W. N. |last3=Van der Laan |first3=R. |date=2025 |title=ESCHMEYER'S CATALOG OF FISHES: CLASSIFICATION |url=https://www.calacademy.org/eschmeyers-catalog-of-fishes-classification |access-date=2025-02-10 |website=California Academy of Sciences |language=en}}</ref>  

The Stephanoberyciformes are mostly uncommon [[deep sea fish|deep-sea]] species with little, if any, importance to commercial [[fishery]]. They share many morphological similarities with the [[Berycoidei]], their sister order. They are usually found in Australian waters.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |access-date=14 February 2025 |title=Order Stephanoberyciformes |url=https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/order/48}}</ref> The [[whalefish]]es, which were formerly treated as their own order, are now also placed in this group. Some families treat them as a [[Taxonomic rank|superfamily]] within the group named Cetomimoidea; most taxa traditionally placed here would then be the '''Stephanoberycoidea'''.<ref>E.g. Nelson (2006)</ref>

The [[family (biology)|families]] are:<ref name=":1" />

* Family [[Stephanoberycidae]] <small>[[Theodore Gill|Gill]]</small><small>, 1884</small> (pricklefishes)
* Family [[Hispidoberyx|Hispidoberycidae]] <small>Kotlyar</small><small>, 1981</small> (spiny-scale pricklefishes)
* Family [[Gibberichthys|Gibberichthyidae]] <small>Parr</small><small>, 1933</small> (gibberfishes)
* Family [[Redmouth whalefish|Rondeletiidae]] <small>[[George Brown Goode|Goode]] & [[Tarleton Hoffman Bean|Bean]]</small><small>, 1895</small> (redmouth whalefishes)
* Family [[Velvet whalefish|Barbourisiidae]] <small>Parr</small><small>, 1945</small> (redvelvet whalefishes)
* Family [[Cetomimidae]] <small>Goode & Bean</small><small>, 1895</small> (whalefishes or flabby whalefishes)

Common characteristics include; a generally rounded body, a toothless [[palate]], rather thin [[skull]] bones, and a missing [[orbitosphenoid]] bone (except for ''[[Hispidoberyx]]'').

The gibberfishes on the other hand appear to be closer to whalefishes such as ''[[Redmouth whalefish|Rondeletia]]'', as has been proposed time and again. These two groups have - apparently as only living fishes - the mysterious [[Tominaga's organ]] (A large mass of globular white tissue, that is present anterior to the orbit and posterior and medial to the nostrils and nasal rosette). ''Rondeletia'', meanwhile, is suspected to be very close to the [[velvet whalefish]], ''Barbourisia rufa''.<ref>Paxton ''et al.'' (2001)</ref>

Despite their distinctive appearance, this clade is only thought to have diverged from the Berycoidei during the [[Paleocene]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Brownstein |first=Chase D |last2=Dornburg |first2=Alex |last3=Near |first3=Thomas J |date=2025-03-04 |title=Cenozoic evolutionary history obscures the Mesozoic origins of acanthopterygian fishes |url=https://academic.oup.com/evolut/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/evolut/qpaf040/8051721?redirectedFrom=fulltext |journal=Evolution |pages=qpaf040 |doi=10.1093/evolut/qpaf040 |issn=0014-3820}}</ref> Potentially the earliest fossil record of the group is of a ''[[Redmouth whalefish|Rondeletia]]''-like whalefish from the earliest Eocene-aged [[Fur Formation]] of Denmark.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bonde |first=Niels |date=2008 |title=Osteoglossomorphs of the marine Lower Eocene of Denmark – with remarks on other Eocene taxa and their importance for palaeobiogeography |url=https://www.lyellcollection.org/doi/10.1144/SP295.14 |journal=Geological Society, London, Special Publications |language=en |volume=295 |issue=1 |pages=253–310 |doi=10.1144/SP295.14 |issn=0305-8719|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* {{aut|Nelson, J.S.}} (2006): ''[[Fishes of the World]]'' (4th ed.). <small>{{ISBN|0-471-25031-7}}</small>
* {{aut|Paxton, John R.; Johnson, G. David & Trnski, Thomas}} (2001): Larvae and juveniles of the deepsea "whalefishes" ''Barbourisia'' and ''Rondeletia'' (Stephanoberyciformes: Barbourisiidae, Rondeletiidae), with comments on family relationships. ''Records of the Australian Museum'' '''53'''(3): 407-425. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110706123132/http://www.publications.australianmuseum.net.au/pdf/1352_complete.pdf PDF fulltext]

==External links==
*{{FishBase_order|order=Stephanoberyciformes|year=2005|month=March}}

{{Actinopterygii}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q621519}}

[[Category:Beryciformes]]