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| Zeiforms | ||||||||
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Suborder Zeioidei Macrurocyttidae Zeidae ( dories) Oreosomatidae ( oreos) Grammicolepididae Suborder Caproidei |
Zeiformes is a small order of marine ray-finned fishes most notable for the dories, a common food fish. The order consists of about 40 species in six families, mostly deep-sea types.
Zeiform bodies are usually thin and deep. Mouths are large, with distensible jaws, and there is no orbitosphenoid . Pelvic fins have 5-10 soft rays and possibly a spine, 5-10 dorsal fin spines and up to 4 anal fin spines.
The classification of the boarfish es ( Caproidae ) in this order is uncertain, since they have many perciform characters, for instance in the caudal skeleton.