Elopiformes

Article By:

Boschung, Herbert T. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Last reviewed:December 2019

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.229100

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• Elopiformes, published June 2014:Download PDF Get Adobe Acrobat Reader

An order of teleost fishes, comprising the ladyfishes, tenpounders and tarpons, in the superorder Elopomorpha. The members of the order Elopiformes (elopiforms) are actinopterygian (ray-finned) fishes and are characterized by the following features: a slender body with abdominal pelvic fins and a deeply forked caudal fin supported by seven hypurals (flattened bones along the ventral side of the urostyle); a large mouth, terminal or superior, bordered by premaxillae and toothed maxillae; teeth also present on the parasphenoid and mesopterygoid bones and the tongue; mesocoracoid and postcleithra bones; a well-developed gular plate; and cycloid scales. In addition, all elopomorphs, including the elopiforms, share a distinctive type of larvae, namely, the leptocephalus-type larvae (elliptical, slender, transparent larvae). Elopiforms have small leptocephali, about 5 cm (2 in.) in length, with a well-developed, forked caudal fin and strong teeth (in contrast, eel leptocephali lack a caudal fin). There are two families of elopiforms: Elopidae and Megalopidae. See also: Actinopterygii; Osteichthyes; Scale (zoology); Teleostei

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