Belongs within: Acanthomorphata.
Contains: Bythitidae, Neobythitinae, Carapinae.
The Ophidiiformes are benthic or benthopelagic, often deep-water fishes with tapering bodies. Members of the Ophidiidae are oviparous whereas Bythitoidei are viviparous (Bond 1996).
Characters (Bond 1996): Body tapering; dorsal and anal fins long, often confluent with caudal; dorsal and anal pterygiophores more numerous than adjacent vertebrae; pelvic fins usually jugular to mental, resembling elongate barbels, sometimes with small spines.
<==Ophidiiformes [Ophidiaria, Ophidiimorpharia]LD09
| i. s.: Eolamprogrammus senectus Danil’chenko 1968P93
|--BythitoideiB-RB13
| |--BythitidaeLD09
| `--DinematichthyidaeB-RW17
| |--DinematichthysN99b
| | |--D. iluocoeteoides Bleeker 1855MM14
| | |--D. megasoma Machida 1994N99b
| | |--D. randalli Machida 1994N99b
| | |--D. trilobatus Møller & Schwarzhans 2008MM14
| | `--D. ventralisO96
| `--DiancistrusB-RW17
| |--D. alleni Schwarzhans, Møller & Nielsen 2005MM14
| |--D. beateae Schwarzhans, Møller & Nielsen 2005MM14
| |--D. jeffjohnsoni Schwarzhans, Møller & Nielsen 2005MM14
| |--D. longifilis Ogilby 1898N99b
| `--D. novaeguineae (Machida 1996)MM14
`--Ophidiidae [Brotulidae, Ophidioidei]AS09
| i. s.: TyphliasRO69
| Grammonus aterRO69
| Moebia gracilis (Günther 1878) [=Bathynectes gracilis, Porogadus gracilis]M58
| Brotulophis argentistriatusJR10
| Sirembinorum bavaricus (Koken 1891)P93
| Ampheristus toliapicus König 1825P93
|--Brotula [Brotulinae]ND13
| |--B. barbataB-RW17
| |--B. maculata Day 1868M58
| `--B. multibarbata Temminck & Schlegel 1846N99a
`--+--+--BassogigasB-RW17
| | |--B. gilliB-RW17
| | `--B. profundissimusB96
| `--+--+--LamprogrammusB-RW17
| | | |--L. brunswigi (Brauer 1906)N99a
| | | |--L. niger Alcock 1891N99a
| | | `--L. scherbachevi Cohen & Rohr 1993LD09
| | `--Brotulotaenia [Brotulotaeniinae]B-RW17
| | `--B. nielseni Cohen 1974N99a
| `--+--DicroleneB-RW17
| | |--D. hubrechti Weber 1913N99a
| | |--D. intronigerB-RW17
| | |--D. longimana Smith & Radcliffe 1913N99a
| | |--D. multifilis (Alcock 1889)N99a
| | `--D. tristis Smith & Radcliffe 1913N99a
| `--+--NeobythitinaeB-RW17
| `--+--LepophidiumB-RW17
| | |--L. jeannaeB-RW17
| | `--+--L. brevibarbeB-RW17
| | `--L. profundorum (Gill 1863)B-RW17, CK-M02
| `--OphidiinaeB96
| |--GenypterusB-RW17
| | |--G. blacodesR59
| | |--G. capensisH72
| | |--G. chilensisB96
| | `--G. reediB96
| `--+--Chilara tayloriB-RW17
| `--Ophidion Linnaeus 1758B-RW17, L58 [incl. Diaphasia Lowe 1843L43]
| | i. s.: O. barbatum Linnaeus 1758L58
| | O. genyopus Ogilby 1897N99a
| | O. imberbe Linnaeus 1758L58 (see below for synonymy)
| | O. macrophthalmum Linnaeus 1758L58
| | O. marginatum (DeKay 1842)CK-M02
| | O. muraenolepis (Günther 1880)N99a
| | O. voltianum Massalongo 1859B80
| |--O. holbrookiiB-RW17
| `--+--O. josephiB-RW17
| `--O. robinsiB-RW17
`--+--Petrotyx sanguineusB-RW17
`--CarapinaeB-RW17
Ophidion imberbe Linnaeus 1758L58 [incl. *Diaphasia acus Lowe 1843L43, Ophidium fierasferL43]
*Type species of generic name indicated
References
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[B-RB13] Betancur-R., R., R. E. Broughton, E. O. Wiley, K. Carpenter, A. López, C. Li, N. I. Holcroft, D. Arcila, M. Sanciangco, J. C. Cureton, II, F. Zhang, T. Buser, M. A. Campbell, J. A. Ballesteros, A. Roa-Varon, S. Willis, W. C. Borden, T. Rowley, P. C. Reneau, D. J. Hough, G. Lu, T. Grande, G. Arratia & G. Ortí. 2013. The tree of life and a new classification of bony fishes. PLoS Currents Tree of Life April 18 2013. doi: 10.1371/currents.tol.53ba26640df0ccaee75bb165c8c26288.
[B-RW17] Betancur-R, R., E. O. Wiley, G. Arratia, A. Acero, N. Bailly, M. Miya, G. Lecointre & G. Ortí. 2017. Phylogenetic classification of bony fishes. BMC Evolutionary Biology 17: 162.
[B80] Blot, J. 1980. La faune ichthyologique des gisements du Monte Bolca (Province de Vérone, Italie). Catalogue systématique présentant l’état actuel des recherches concernant cette faune. Bulletin du Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle C 2: 339–396.
[B96] Bond, C. E. 1996. Biology of Fishes 2nd ed. Saunders College Publishing: Fort Worth.
[CK-M02] Collette, B. B., & G. Klein-MacPhee. 2002. Cusk-eels. Family Ophidiidae. In: Collette, B. B., & G. Klein-MacPhee (eds) Bigelow and Schroeder’s Fishes of the Gulf of Maine 3rd ed. pp. 208–211. Smithsonian Institute Press: Washington.
[H72] Hulley, P. A. 1972. The origin, interrelationship and distribution of southern African Rajidae (Chondrichthyes, Batoidei). Annals of the South African Museum 60 (1): 1–103.
[JR10] Jordan, D. S., & R. E. Richardson. 1910. Check-list of the species of fishes known from the Philippine archipelago. Bureau of Printing: Manila.
[LD09] Li, B., A. Dettaï, C. Cruaud, A. Couloux, M. Desoutter-Meniger & G. Lecointre. 2009. RNF213, a new nuclear marker for acanthomorph phylogeny. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 50: 345–363.
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[L43] Lowe, R. T. 1843. On the fishes of Madeira. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 11: 81–95.
[MM14] Moore, G. I., S. M. Morrison, J. B. Hutchins, G. R. Allen & A. Sampey. 2014. Kimberley marine biota. Historical data: fishes. Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement 84: 161–206.
[M58] Munro, I. S. R. 1958. The fishes of the New Guinea region: a check-list of the fishes of New Guinea incorporating records of species collected by the Fisheries Survey Vessel “Fairwind” during the years 1948 to 1950. Papua and New Guinea Agricultural Journal 10 (4): 97–369 (reprinted: 1958. Territory of Papua and New Guinea Fisheries Bulletin no. 1).
[ND13] Near, T. J., A. Dornburg, R. I. Eytan, B. P. Keck, W. L. Smith, K. L. Kuhn, J. A. Moore, S. A. Price, F. T. Burbrink, M. Friedman & P. C. Wainwright. 2013. Phylogeny and tempo of diversification in the superradiation of spiny-rayed fishes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 110 (31): 12738–12743.
[N99a] Nielsen, J. G. 1999a. Ophidiidae. Cusk eels. In: Carpenter, K. E., & V. H. Niem (eds) The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific vol. 3. Batoid fishes, chimaeras and bony fishes part 1 (Elopidae to Linophrynidae) pp. 1979–1982. FAO: Rome.
[N99b] Nielsen, J. G. 1999b. Bythitidae. Brotulas. In: Carpenter, K. E., & V. H. Niem (eds) The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific vol. 3. Batoid fishes, chimaeras and bony fishes part 1 (Elopidae to Linophrynidae) pp. 1983–1984. FAO: Rome.
[O96] Ogilby, J. D. 1896. Descriptions of two new genera and species of Australian fishes. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 21 (2): 136–142.
[P93] Patterson, C. 1993. Osteichthyes: Teleostei. In: Benton, M. J. (ed.) The Fossil Record 2 pp. 621–656. Chapman & Hall: London.
[RO69] Riedl, R., & B. Ozretic. 1969. Hydrobiology of marginal caves. Part I. General problems and introduction. Internationale Revue ges. Hydrobiol. 54 (5): 661–683.
[R59] Robinson, E. S. 1959. Records of cestodes from marine fishes of New Zealand. Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand 86 (1): 143–153.