| Notacanthiformes | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Snub-nosed spiny eel,Notacanthus chemnitzii | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Infraclass: | Teleosteomorpha |
| Division: | Teleostei |
| Superorder: | Elopomorpha |
| Order: | Notacanthiformes L. S. Berg, 1947 |
| Families | |
see text | |
| Synonyms | |
Heteromi | |
TheNotacanthiformes/nɒtəˈkænθɪfɔːrmiːz/ are anorder of deep-searay-finned fishes, consisting of the familiesHalosauridae andNotacanthidae (spiny eels).[1]
Fishes of the World (2006) lists it as thesuborderNotacanthoidei ofAlbuliformes.[2] The notacanthiforms are much moreeel-like than the albuliforms; for instance, thecaudal fin has disappeared.
Fish of the order are found in oceans worldwide, at depths from 120 to 4,900 metres (390 to 16,080 ft). They are elongated fish, although not as much so as thetrue eels, and have various feeding strategies, like hyperbenthic and detritus feeders, epifaunal browsers, and megafaunal croppers.[3] They typically feed on slow-moving orsessile animals, such asmolluscs,echinoderms, andsea anemones. Like the true eels, they have aleptocephalus larva that floats in the surface waters before transforming into an adult. Unusually, the larva can often be larger than the adult.[4]
Notacanthiformes has the following two families classified within it:[5]
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