Elopidae
| Elopidae Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
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| Elops saurus | |
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| Davichthys, a fossil elopid from the Late Cretaceous | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Division: | Teleostei |
| Order: | Elopiformes |
| Family: | Elopidae Bonaparte, 1832 |
| Type species | |
| Elops saurus Linnaeus, 1766 | |
| Genera | |
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See text | |
| Synonyms | |
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The Elopidae are an ancient family of ray-finned fish, one of two living members of the order Elopiformes. They containing a single living genus, Elops, and many extinct genera dating back to the Late Jurassic, when the earliest stem-group elopids are known. They appear to have diverged from their closest relatives, the Megalopidae, during the Jurassic.
Etymology
The name comes from the Ancient Greek ἔλοψ (élops), variant of ἔλλοψ (éllops), referring to a kind of serpent or serpentlike sea fish. Compare the name of the unrelated family Elapidae.
Taxonomy
The following genera are known:
- Elops Linnaeus 1766 non Bonaparte 1831 non Commerson ex Lacépède, 1801 - Early Cretaceous (Aptian) to present
- †Ctenodentelops Forey et al., 2003 - Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) of Lebanon
- †Davichthys Forey 1973 - Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian to Santonian) of Europe and the Middle East
- †Elopsomolos Arratia, 2000 - Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian) of Germany
- †Esocelops Woodward, 1901 - Early Eocene of England
- †Ichthyemidion Arratia, 1995 - Early Cretaceous of Spain
- †Italoelops Taverne & Capasso, 2024 - Early Cretaceous (Aptian) of Italy
- †Kipalelops Taverne, 1976 - Late Cretaceous of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
- †Landanaelops Taverne & Smith, 2026 - Middle Paleocene of Angola
- †Lyrolepis Romanowski 1886 non Rechiger, 1943 - Oligocene of North Caucasus, Russia
- †Nardoelops Taverne & Capasso, 2012 - Late Cretaceous (Campanian or Maastrichtian) of Italy
- ?†Opisthopteryx Pictet & Humbert, 1866 - Santonian of Lebanon
- ?†Palelops Applegate, 1970 - Late Cretaceous of Alabama, USA
- †Protelops Laube, 1885 - Cenomanian of England
- ?†Sauropsidium Costa, 1850 - Early Cretaceous of Italy
- ?†Thrissopteroides von der Marck, 1873 - Late Cretaceous of Germany and Lebanon
See also
Elopomorph genera | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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