The Enchodontoidei are an extinctsuperorder of aulopiform fish known from the Early Cretaceous to the Eocene.[1] They were among the dominant predatory marine fish groups in the Late Cretaceous, achieving a worldwide distribution. They were an extremely diverse group, with some developing fusiform body plans whereas others evolved elongated body plans with long beaks, superficially similar to eels and needlefish.[2] They could also grow to very large sizes, as seen with Cimolichthys and Stratodus, the latter of which is the largest aulopiform known. Their most famous member is the widespread, abundant, and long-lasting genus Enchodus.
Most enchodontoids went extinct at the end of the Cretaceous, although some dercetids survived into the Early Paleocene and Stratodus into the Early Eocene of the Trans-Saharan seaway.[3][4] Some remains of Enchodus have also been recovered from the Paleocene and Eocene, although this may just represent reworked material.[5][6][7]
Taxonomy
Although initially classified among Stomiiformes and then the Salmoniformes in the mid-20th century, studies since the 1970s have found them to be deeply nested among the lizardfishes and lancetfishes in the order Aulopiformes. Some studies group them with the extant superorder Alepisauroidei, although a majority consider them their own distinct group. Their taxonomy is disputed, with some studies finding the group to be polyphyletic with its members scattered among the Aulopiformes, although most recent studies have recovered the group as monophyletic, based on the synapomorphy of maxilla included in the gape of the mouth.[8][9][10] Other studies have classified the different superfamilies as their own individual suborders, though most now classify them as one suborder.[7] The taxonomy within the group is even more disputed, with multiple families within the group recovered as paraphyletic in some studies.[11][12]
Classification
The following taxonomy is partially based on Silva & Gallo (2011).[2] Other studies have found differing classifications for the group.[13]
^ abSilva, Hilda M. A; Gallo, Valéria (June 2011). "Taxonomic review and phylogenetic analysis of Enchodontoidei (Teleostei: Aulopiformes)". Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências. 83 (2): 483–511. doi:10.1590/S0001-37652011000200010. PMID21670874.
^Chida, Mori; Brinkman, Donald B.; Murray, Alison M. (October 2023). "A large, new dercetid fish (Teleostei: Aulopiformes) from the Campanian Bearpaw Formation of Alberta, Canada". Cretaceous Research. 150: 105579. Bibcode:2023CrRes.15005579C. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2023.105579. S2CID258803963.
^Fielitz, Christopher; González-Rodríguez, Katia A. (2010). "A New Species of Enchodus (aulopiformes: Enchodontidae) from the Cretaceous (albian to Cenomanian) of Zimapán, Hidalgo, México". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 30 (5): 1343–1351. Bibcode:2010JVPal..30.1343F. doi:10.1080/02724634.2010.501438. JSTOR40864352. S2CID84281080.
^Rana, R. S.; Kumar, K.; Singh, H.; Rose, K. D. (2005). "Lower vertebrates from the Late Palaeocene–Earliest Eocene Akli Formation, Giral Lignite Mine, Barmer District, western India". Current Science. 89 (9): 1606–1613. JSTOR24110948. OCLC9979790250.
^ abDavis, Matthew P.; Fielitz, Christopher (December 2010). "Estimating divergence times of lizardfishes and their allies (Euteleostei: Aulopiformes) and the timing of deep-sea adaptations". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 57 (3): 1194–1208. Bibcode:2010MolPE..57.1194D. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2010.09.003. PMID20854916.
^Fielitz, Christopher (1999). Phylogenetic analysis of the family Enchodontidae and its relationships to recent members of the order Aulopiformes (Thesis). OCLC41928771. ProQuest304510360.[page needed]
Chida, Mori (Fall 2022). A new species of dercetid and the assessment of the phylogeny of the Enchodontoidei (Teleostei: Aulopiformes) (Thesis). doi:10.7939/r3-nqmz-nf15.
da Silva, Hilda Maria Andrade; Gallo, Valéria (October 2016). "Distributional patterns of enchodontoid fishes in the Late Cretaceous". Cretaceous Research. 65: 223–231. Bibcode:2016CrRes..65..223D. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2016.03.009.
Díaz-Cruz, Jesús Alberto; Alvarado-Ortega, Jesús; Carbot-Chanona, Gerardo (June 2016). "The Cenomanian short snout enchodontid fishes (Aulopifomes, Enchodontidae) from Sierra Madre Formation, Chiapas, southeastern Mexico". Cretaceous Research. 61: 136–150. Bibcode:2016CrRes..61..136D. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2015.12.026.
