Order Summary for Syngnathiformes
Main Ref
:
Order
:
Syngnathiformes pipefishes and seahorses
Class
:
Teleostei
Sister Order
:
Synbranchiformes 15 M years
Ref.
:
First Fossil Record
:
late Tertiary
Occurs in
:
Marine
Fresh
Brackish
Remark
:
Body elongate and encased in a series of bony rings; mouth small, at end of tube-shaped snout (except in the "finless" pipefish Bulbonaricus, whose adults lack even a short tubiform snout); pelvic fins, when present, abdominal; upper jaw not protractile; lachrymal usually present, other circumorbital bones usually absent; ribs absent; anterior 3-6 vertebrae elongate; aglomerular kidney in at least some.
Class etymology
:
Greek aktis = ray, thunderbolt, beam + Greek pterygion, diminutive of pteryx = wing, fin. Ref. 45335.
Order etymology
:
Greek, syn = with, together + Greek, gnathos = jaw + Latin, forma = shape (Ref. 45335).
Families
:


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