Group

Remora

Carangoidei

marine

About Remora

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.

Appearance

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.

Most carangiforms are medium to large-sized predatory fish, ranging from 22 cm (8.7 in) to 2.5 m (8.2 ft) 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).

Where to see it

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