ABSTRACT
This new order was described by Johnson & Patterson (1997) and includes two suborders of principally deep-sea fishes-Argentinoidei and Alepocephaloidei. Prior to this new arrangement the argentinoids and alepocephaloids had been placed in the Order Osmeriformes by most authors (Begle 1992, Nelson 1994). Johnson & Patterson’s (1997) classification resolves a number of difficulties and merges molecular and anatomical evidence resulting in the following:
The only groups that concerns this area are the families Clupeidae and Engraulidae within the Clupeomorpha and the Agentiniformes. The Ostariophysi has some marine catfish families but they do not have pelagic ELH stages and are not treated. The Order Salmoniformes that now includes osmerid fishes does not occur in the WCNA.
