Order Summary for Perciformes

  Main Ref
:
  Order
:
Perciformes perch-likes
  Class
:
Teleostei
  Sister Order
:
Pleuronectiformes 15 M years
  Ref.
:
  First Fossil Record
:
late Tertiary
  Occurs in
:
Marine
Fresh
Brackish
  Remark
:
Largest order of fishes. Most families in many suborders are not currently definable in terms of shared derived characters and thus may not be monophyletic. Most perciforms are marine shore fishes, while about 2,000 species (e.g. cichlids) normally occur only in freshwater, and about 2,200 species occur in freshwater for at least part of their life history.
  Class etymology
:
Greek aktis = ray, thunderbolt, beam + Greek pterygion, diminutive of pteryx = wing, fin. Ref. 45335.
  Order etymology
:
Greek, perke = perch + Latin, forma = shape (Ref. 45335).
  Families
:

Ref.
[ e.g. 9948]                       
Glossary
                    [ e.g. cephalopods]

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