Classification

Distinguishing taxonomic features

The principal features on which classification of the Holostei is based include general body shape, scale structure, and the number and placement of head bones.

Annotated classification

• Infraclass Holostei

  Tail hemiheterocercal; maxilla free of preopercle; rays of median fins approximately equal in number to basal elements; trend toward thinning of scales and loss of ganoid (enamel) layer.

  • Order Amiiformes (bowfin and fossil relatives)

    Body generally fusiform; carnivorous fishes, early forms with well-developed diamond-shaped scales covered with enameloid; scales thinner and cycloid in later forms; early forms with persistent notochord, centra developed later. 4 families, 1 living species. Middle Jurassic (about 175.6–161.2 million years ago) to present.

    • Family Amiidae

      Dorsal fin long extending over most of back; tail rounded; scales thin and circular. 1 genus, 1 living species (Amia calva).

  • Order Semionotiformes (gars and fossil relatives)

    Body of variable shape, some fusiform, others deep-bodied; cheek shows many tiny bones behind eye; scales well-developed and diamond-shaped covered with an enamel-like layer; 3 families, one of which (Lepisosteidae) is recent. Late Permian (about 260.4–251 million years ago) to present.

    • Family Lepisosteidae

      Body elongate; jaws essentially a long snout and equipped with needlelike teeth; dorsal and anal fins located posteriorly on the body close to the tail. 2 genera (Lepisosteus and Atractosteus), 7 species.

  • †Order Pycnodontiformes

    Deep-bodied fishes with dorsal and anal fins elongated; scales often absent from part of body; upper and lower teeth modified to form crushing pavementlike structures; front teeth often incisiform. Late Triassic to Eocene (about 228.7–33.9 million years ago).

Critical appraisal

Long regarded as a sister group to the Chondrostei and Teleostei, the infraclass Holostei is not recognized by many authorities as a legitimate taxon, since the orders Amiformes, Semionotiformes, and their fossil relatives do not appear to descend collectively from a single ancestor. Some authorities state that amiiforms are more closely related to the Teleostei than they are to the Semionotiformes, as evidenced by the structure of the braincase. DNA analysis continues to investigate the genetic connections between the Amiiformes and the Semionotiformes. They are retained together in this classification as the Holostei chiefly because emerging molecular data suggest that there is a close relationship between them.