Elopidae
Genus of fishes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Elopidae are an ancient family of ray-finned fish, one of two living members of the order Elopiformes. They containing a single living genus, Elops, and many extinct genera dating back to the Late Jurassic, when the earliest stem-group elopids are known. They appear to have diverged from their closest relatives, the Megalopidae, during the Jurassic.[1]
| Elopidae Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
| |
| Elops saurus | |
 | |
| Davichthys, a fossil elopid from the Late Cretaceous | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Elopiformes |
| Family: | Elopidae Bonaparte, 1832 |
| Type species | |
| Elops saurus Linnaeus, 1766 | |
| Genera | |
|
See text | |
| Synonyms[2] | |
| |
Etymology
The name comes from the Ancient Greek ἔλοψ (élops), variant of ἔλλοψ (éllops), referring to a kind of serpent or serpentlike sea fish.[3] Compare the name of the unrelated family Elapidae.
Taxonomy
The following genera are known:
- Elops Linnaeus 1766 non Bonaparte 1831 non Commerson ex Lacépède, 1801 - Early Cretaceous (Aptian) to present
- †Ctenodentelops Forey et al., 2003 - Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) of Lebanon[4]
- †Davichthys Forey 1973 - Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian to Santonian) of Europe and the Middle East
- †Elopsomolos Arratia, 2000 - Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian) of Germany[1][5]
- †Esocelops Woodward, 1901 - Early Eocene of England[6]
- †Ichthyemidion Arratia, 1995 - Early Cretaceous of Spain [1][7]
- †Italoelops Taverne & Capasso, 2024 - Early Cretaceous (Aptian) of Italy[8]
- †Kipalelops Taverne, 1976 - Late Cretaceous of the Democratic Republic of the Congo[9]
- †Landanaelops Taverne & Smith, 2025 - Middle Paleocene of Angola[9]
- †Lyrolepis Romanowski 1886 non Rechiger, 1943 - Oligocene of North Caucasus, Russia
- †Nardoelops Taverne & Capasso, 2012 - Late Cretaceous (Campanian or Maastrichtian) of Italy[9]
- ?†Opisthopteryx Pictet & Humbert, 1866 - Santonian of Lebanon[10]
- ?†Palelops Applegate, 1970 - Late Cretaceous of Alabama, USA
- †Protelops Laube, 1885 - Cenomanian of England[4]
- ?†Sauropsidium Costa, 1850 - Early Cretaceous of Italy[10]
- ?†Thrissopteroides von der Marck, 1873 - Late Cretaceous of Germany and Lebanon[10]
