EVOLUTION, NAMES, AND CLASSIFICATION 



75 



takes the form of rules set up by an international committee on nomenclature 

 (Schenk and McMasters, 1948). Family names end in "idae," subfamilies in 

 "inae"; modern taxonomists end orders in "iformes," suborders in "oidei," and 

 superfamilies in "oidea." 



In the following pages an attempt is made to use the simplest classification 

 possible. Classification is no idle business. The whole point of it is to simplify, 

 and the underwater swimmer will find it to his benefit to try to think in terms 

 .of a classificatory system in which each species has its position in a family which, 

 in turn, has its place in an evolutionary system. An effort should be made to have 

 in mind a hypothetical family image which gives the species of the family their 

 major characteristics. This book is built around the convenience of having such 

 family images, and a "type" system has been used here (Introduction). 



Fig. 17. The relationship between the evolutionary tree and classification. 



