ABSTRACT
The monotypic family Ateleopodidae (Order Ateleopodiformes) are widely distributed in the temperate and tropical waters of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans. They live in a wide depth range from about 30 m on the continental shelf to the deep sea down to 700m. Most species are characterized by a compressed elongate body covered with soft muscles, bulbous gelatinized snout, an obtuse spine expanding from behind the eye, a small dorsal fin just behind the head, and a long anal fin base extending to and continuous with the caudal fin-all extremely unique features. Therefore, this group had been an independent order Ateleopodiformes (Berg, 1940). Later the Ateleopodidae had been regarded as a member of the Lampriformes, but the monophyly of that order raised a doubt, because of extremely morphological diversity of the members. Olney et al. (1993) removed the ateleopodids from the lampriforms, and placed it in an unresolved trichotomy with stomiiformes and euryptergians. Nelson (1994) established the superorder Stenopterygii, and included Ateleopodiformes and Stomiiformes in it.
