Zoarcoidei
Zoarcoidei is a suborder of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the order Perciformes. The suborder includes the wolffishes, gunnels and eelpouts. The suborder includes about 400 species. These fishes are predominantly found in the boreal seas of the Northern Hemisphere but they have colonised the Southern Hemisphere. Many members of this suborder are extremophiles adapted to deepwater ecosystems (including hydrothermal vents) and polar waters.
The Zoarcoidei families all share a single feature, the possession of a single nostril, and there is no other features or group of features which mark out the Zoarcoids as a taxonomic grouping. Some fish, like the ones in Stichaeidae and Anarhichadidae, resemble eels by using an Anguilliform body.
The Zoarcoidei is thought to have originated in the northern hemisphere, particularly the northwestern Pacific Ocean and one of the families, the Zoarcidae, has colonised the southern hemisphere on a number of occasions.
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