Esociformes

Belongs within: Protacanthopterygii.

The Esociformes are a Holarctic group of carnivorous freshwater fishes, characterised by the presence of preethmoids and paired proethmoids in the place of the mesethmoids, the absence of an adipose fin and of the orbitosphenoid and mesocoracoid, and the loss of teeth on the maxillaries (Bond 1996). They include the Esocidae, pikes, which are medium-sized to large fishes with a long, flattened snout.

Esociformes [Palaeoesocidae, Umbridae]
    |  i. s.: PalaeoesoxG88
    |         BoltyshiaP93
    |           |--B. brevicauda Sytchevskaya & Danil’chenko 1975P93
    |           `--B. truncata Sytchevskaya 1976P93
    |--+--Dallia [Dalliidae]B96
    |  |    `--D. pectoralisB96
    |  `--UmbraND13
    |       |--U. krameri Walbaum 1792SE08
    |       |--U. limiND13
    |       `--U. pygmaeaB96
    `--+--Novumbra hubbsiND13
       `--EsocidaeNE12
            |--Estesesox foxi Wilson et al. 1992P93
            |--Oldmanesox canadensis Wilson et al. 1992P93
            `--Esox Linnaeus 1758ND13, L58
                 |--E. americanusND13
                 |    |--E. a. americanusSBW95
                 |    `--E. a. vermiculatusSBW95
                 |--E. bellone Linnaeus 1758L58
                 |--E. brasiliensis Linnaeus 1758L58
                 |--E. gymnocephalus Linnaeus 1758L58
                 |--E. hepsetus Linnaeus 1758L58
                 |--E. lucius Linnaeus 1758SE08
                 |--E. masquinongyB96
                 |--E. nigerB96
                 |--E. osseus Linnaeus 1758L58
                 |--E. reichertiB96
                 |--E. synodus Linnaeus 1758L58
                 `--E. vulpes Linnaeus 1758L58

*Type species of generic name indicated

References

[B96] Bond, C. E. 1996. Biology of Fishes 2^nd ed. Saunders College Publishing: Fort Worth.

[G88] Gray, J. 1988. Evolution of the freshwater ecosystem: the fossil record. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 62: 1–214.

[L58] Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. Laurentii Salvii: Holmiae.

[ND13] Near, T. J., A. Dornburg, R. I. Eytan, B. P. Keck, W. L. Smith, K. L. Kuhn, J. A. Moore, S. A. Price, F. T. Burbrink, M. Friedman & P. C. Wainwright. 2013. Phylogeny and tempo of diversification in the superradiation of spiny-rayed fishes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 110 (31): 12738–12743.

[NE12] Near, T. J., R. I. Eytan, A. Dornburg, K. L. Kuhn, J. A. Moore, M. P. Davis, P. C. Wainwright, M. Friedman & W. L. Smith. 2012. Resolution of ray-finned fish phylogeny and timing of diversification. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 109 (34): 13698–13703.

[P93] Patterson, C. 1993. Osteichthyes: Teleostei. In: Benton, M. J. (ed.) The Fossil Record 2 pp. 621–656. Chapman & Hall: London.

[SE08] Sevcsik, A., & T. Erös. 2008. A revised catalogue of freshwater fishes of Hungary and the neighbouring countries in the Hungarian Natural History Museum (Pisces). Annales Historico-Naturales Musei Nationalis Hungarici 100: 331–383.

[SBW95] Stauffer, J. R., Jr, J. M. Boltz & L. R. White. 1995. The fishes of West Virginia. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 146: 1–389.