Order Summary for Clupeiformes

  Main Ref
:
  Order
:
Clupeiformes herrings
  Class
:
Teleostei
  Sister Order
:
Elopiformes 140 M years
  Ref.
:
  First Fossil Record
:
early Cretaceous
  Occurs in
:
Marine
Fresh
Brackish
  Remark
:
Recessus lateralis present (part of the otophysic connection in which various sensory canals merge within a chamber in the otic region of the neurocranium, not known from any other group); parasphenoid teeth absent; no large foramen on the anterior ceratohyal; parietals separated by the supraoccipital; no leptocephalous larvae. Most are plankton feeders, with long and sometimes very numerous gill rakers that serve as straining devices.
  Class etymology
:
Greek aktis = ray, thunderbolt, beam + Greek pterygion, diminutive of pteryx = wing, fin. Ref. 45335.
  Order etymology
:
Latin, clupea = sardine + Latin, forma = shape. 1880 (Ref. 45335).
  Families
:

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

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