Stomiiformes

Article By:

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

Last reviewed:June 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.803490

An order of bioluminescent, deep-sea, neoteleost fishes, including dragonfishes, marine hatchetfishes, and bristlemouths. The order Stomiiformes is probably the sister group to all other neoteleosts (that is, Ateleopodomorpha, Cyclosquamata, Scopelomorpha, Lampriomorpha, Polymixiomorpha, Paracanthopterygii, and Acanthopterygii). Members of the order Stomiiformes (stomiiforms) can be distinguished by a body form that is long and slender to very deep, and moderately to extremely compressed; luminescent organs (photophores) are present below the axis of the body; a chin barbel is present in some species; the premaxilla and maxilla are toothed and located in the gape of the mouth; the gape extends well past the eye in most species; scales, if present, are cycloid and easily lost; pectoral, dorsal, or adipose fins are absent in some species; a ventral adipose fin (in front of the anal fin) is present in some species; 4 to 9 pelvic fin rays, and 5 to 24 branchiostegal rays, are present; and the color is usually dark brown or black, and occasionally silvery. See also: Bioluminescence; Deep-sea fauna; Osteichthyes; Photophore gland; Teleostei

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