Esociformes
13 species
The Esociformes is a small order of freshwater ray-finned fish, with two families, Umbridae and Esocidae. The pikes of genus Esox give the order its name.
This order is closely related to the Salmoniformes, the two comprising the superorder Protacanthopterygii, and are often included in their order. The esociform fishes first appeared in the mid-Cretaceous — early products of the Euteleostei radiation of that time. They diverged from their sister group Salmoniformes about 110 million years ago, with the extant species having evolved from a common ancestor that lived about 90 million years ago. Today, they are found in weed-choked freshwater habitats in North America and northern Eurasia.
The Esociformes is a small order of freshwater ray-finned fish, with two families, Umbridae and Esocidae. The pikes of genus Esox give the order its name.
This order is closely related to the Salmoniformes, the two comprising the superorder Protacanthopterygii, and are often included in their order. The esociform fishes first appeared in the mid-Cretaceous — early products of the Euteleostei radiation of that time. They diverged from their sister group Salmoniformes about 110 million years ago, with the extant species having evolved from a common ancestor that lived about 90 million years ago. Today, they are found in weed-choked freshwater habitats in North America and northern Eurasia.
