ABSTRACT
The placement of this order and its relationships with cyprinodontiformes, mugiloids, polynemoids, sphyraenoids has been unresolved for sometime. I follow Nelson (1994) by treating it as a separate order with two families from our area treated in the following two chapters. Atherinid and atherinopsid larvae are long and slender with pigment on the dorsal midline. These features superficially resemble some beloniforms so care must be taken in identification ELH stages.
