Knowra Perciformes Perciformes Perciformes is a traditional order of ray-finned fishes, broadly defined to include perch-like fishes and many groups now classified in separate orders.
Actinopterygii : Actinopterygii is the class of ray-finned fishes, whose fins are supported by slender bony rays. Perciformes belongs to this enormous fish class.
Molecular phylogenetics : Molecular phylogenetics infers evolutionary relationships by comparing DNA, RNA, or protein sequences. Genetic analyses have repeatedly reshaped the boundaries of Perciformes.
Perciformes (modern restricted sense) : Perciformes in its restricted modern sense is a smaller order of fishes retained after many traditional members were reassigned. This narrower usage contrasts with the historically expansive order.
Percidae : Percidae is a family of freshwater and brackish-water fishes that includes perches, darters, and pikeperches. Perches are the namesake and central examples of the traditional order.
Percomorpha : Percomorpha is a major clade of spiny-rayed fishes that includes tunas, flatfishes, and many traditional perciforms. Many lineages once grouped in Perciformes sit within this broader modern clade.
Comparative anatomy : Comparative anatomy studies similarities and differences in the structures of organisms. Fish anatomy supplied many characters used to define traditional perciform groups.
Centrarchiformes : Centrarchiformes is an order of ray-finned fishes that includes sunfishes and several related families. Sunfishes were among groups historically placed within the broad Perciformes.
Cichlidae : Cichlidae is a family of freshwater fishes that includes cichlids native to Africa, the Americas, and parts of Asia. Cichlids were included in broad traditional Perciformes despite their distinctive diversity.
Percomorphaceae : Percomorphaceae is a proposed major clade within Percomorpha, grouping many familiar spiny-rayed fish lineages. Its proposed membership helps illustrate the large-scale rearrangements behind perciform classification.
Morphological character : A morphological character is a heritable feature of an organism's form or structure used in biological comparison. Shared anatomical traits once served as evidence for grouping diverse fishes in Perciformes.
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