Carangiformes is a large and diverse order of ray-finned fishes within the clade Percomorpha. It is part of a sister clade to the Ovalentaria, alongside its sister group, the Anabantaria (including Anabantiformes and Synbranchiformes). The order includes ecologically diverse groups such as the jacks and trevallies, flatfishes, barracudas, billfishes, and archerfishes.
The Carangiformes has traditionally been regarded as a monotypic order with only the family Carangidae within it by taxonomic authorities; other families currently part of the order were previously classified as part of the wider order Perciformes. The 5th edition of Fishes of the World classify six families within Carangiformes, with more recent authorities expanding the order to include up to 30 families, based on phylogenetic evidence.
Description While the expanded order Carangiformes is primarily defined by molecular data, the core group (suborder Carangoidei) shares specific synapomorphies: One or two tubular ossifications (prenasals) extending from the nasal bone, a trait shared with the archerfishes.E. O. Wiley & G. David Johnson: A teleost classification based on monophyletic groups. Joseph S. Nelson, Hans-Peter Schultze & Mark V. H. Wilson: Origin and Phylogenetic Interrelationships of Teleosts. Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil, München 2010, ISBN 978-3-89937-107-9 Small, adherent cycloid scales.
Most carangiforms are medium to large-sized predatory fish, ranging from to in length. Body shapes vary from slender and fusiform (e.g., barracudas, cobia) to deep-bodied and laterally compressed (e.g., trevallies, moonfish, flatfishes). Most species are marine, inhabiting primarily tropical and subtropical waters, though some are able to live in freshwater during certain parts of their lives (giant trevally, all archerfish), and some live entirely in freshwater (river tonguesole).
Classification The order Carangiformes has historically been either subsumed within Perciformes or used exclusively for the families in the suborder Carangoidei (Carangidae, Coryphaenidae, Rachycentridae, Echeneidae, and Nematistiidae). However, recent genetic studies have redefined the group to resolve the paraphyly of Perciformes, incorporating many more groups such as the highly specialized flatfishes.
The earliest known carangiform fossils are unnamed members of Carangidae and Menidae from the Paleocene (Danian) strata from the Dakhla Formation (Egypt) and species of the moonfish genus Mene from the Late Paleocene of Peru and Tunisia.
Taxonomy The following classification follows Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes (2026):
Order Carangiformes Suborder Centropomoidei Family Latidae (giant perches) Family Centropomidae (snooks) Family Lactariidae (false trevallies) Family Sphyraenidae (barracudas) Suborder Pleuronectoidei Family Polynemidae (threadfins or tassel-fishes) Family Psettodidae (spiny turbots) Family Citharidae (largescale flounders) Family Scophthalmidae (turbots) Family Cyclopsettidae (sand whiffs or large-tooth flounders) Family Grammatobothidae Family Monolenidae Family Taeniopsettidae Family Bothidae (lefteye flounders) Family Paralichthyidae (sand flounders) Family Pleuronectidae (righteye flounders) Subfamily Atheresthinae Subfamily Pleuronichthyinae Subfamily Microstominae (smallmouth flounders) Subfamily Hippoglossinae (halibuts) Subfamily Pleuronectinae (true flounders) Family Paralichthodidae (peppered flounders) Family Oncopteridae (remo flounders) Family Rhombosoleidae (South Pacific flounders) Family Achiropsettidae (southern flounders or armless flounders) Family Achiridae (American soles) Family Samaridae (crested flounders) Family Poecilopsettidae (bigeye flounders) Family Soleidae (soles) Family Cynoglossidae (tonguefishes) Subfamily Symphurinae (straightsnout tongue soles) Subfamily Cynoglossinae (hookedsnout tongue soles) Suborder Toxotoidei Family Leptobramidae (beachsalmons) Family Toxotidae (archerfishes) Suborder Nematistioidei Family Nematistiidae (roosterfishes) Suborder Menoidei Family Menidae (moonfishes) Family Xiphiidae (swordfishes) Family Istiophoridae (billfishes and marlins) Suborder Carangoidei Family Carangidae (jacks or jack mackerels) Subfamily Naucratinae (amberjacks) Subfamily Caranginae (trevallies and kingfishes) Family Trachinotidae Subfamily Scomberoidinae (leatherjackets and queenfishes) Subfamily Trachinotinae (pompanos) Family Echeneidae (remoras and sharksuckers) Family Rachycentridae (cobias) Family Coryphaenidae (dolphinfishes)
The following fossil families are also known:
Order Carangiformes ?Family †Pygaeidae Jordan, 1905 Suborder Pleuronectoidei Family †Amphistiidae Boulenger, 1902 Family †Joleaudichthyidae Chabanaud, 1937 Suborder Menoidei Family †Palaeorhynchidae Günther, 1880 Family †Hemingwayidae Sytchevskaya & Prokofiev, 2002 Family †Blochiidae Bleeker, 1859 Family †Xiphiorhynchidae Regan, 1909 Suborder Carangoidei Family †Ductoridae Blot, 1969 Family †Opisthomyzonidae Jordan, 1923
Phylogenies The following cladogram is based on a 2023 phylogenetic analysis which studied the UCEs of various marine fish:
Internal relationships of Carangoidei Within the suborder Carangoidei, Coryphaenidae, Rachycentridae, and Echeneidae have been suggested to comprise a monophyletic grouping (dubbed "Echeneoidea"), which has been recovered as a sister clade to the Carangidae. Additionally, the family Carangidae is paraphyletic in the traditional sense; the "Echeneoidea" clade are more closely related to two carangid subfamilies (Scomberoidinae and Trachinotinae) than they are to the other two subfamilies (Naucratinae and Caranginae). This has been consistently found by studies, which propose the elevation of the subfamily Trachinotinae into the family Trachinotidae to reflect this finding.
The following cladogram is based on Girard et al.'s 2020 study of UCEs and morphology:
The following cladogram is based on a 2023 phylogenetic analysis which studied the UCEs of various marine fish:
References