no. 3647 PERCIFORM FISHES — GOSLINE 9 



Mugiloidei and in some of the Anabantoidei represents a secondary- 

 loss; certainly such a loss has occurred in such other percoid deriva- 

 tives as the Stromateidae, Tetragonuridae, Gempylidae, and Trichiu- 

 ridae (Regan, 1909a). 



Because of the possibility that the Mugiloidei and Anabantoidei 

 diverged from a protopercoid stock somewhat ahead of the other 

 existing Perciformes, they will be dealt with first. Whether these two 

 suborders, however, are considered as "protopercoid" (fig. lb) or 

 percoid derivatives is of no great moment for overall Perciformes 

 classification. 



Suborder Mugiloidei 



The suborder Mugiloidei, as understood herein, contains the 

 Polynemidae, Mugilidae, Sphyraenidae, Atherinidae, and phallo- 

 stethoid families. Rosen (1964; and in Greenwood, et al., 1966) re- 

 cently has removed the Atherinidae and phallostethoid families to a 

 separate order Atheriniformes of the superorder Atherinomorpha. 

 This order and superorder I believe to comprise three unrelated 

 groups— the exocoetoids, the cyprinodontoids, and the atherinoids — 

 all of which are adapted basically to living at or very close to the 

 water surface and, consequently, have developed numerous features 

 in common. The question of an atherinid-cyprinodontoid relationship 

 has been discussed widely in recent years (e.g., Hubbs, 1944; Rosen, 

 1964; Greenwood, et al., 1966; and Foster, 1967). I have nothing to 

 add to or subtract from what I have said already on the subject 

 (1961b, 1962, 1963). Alexander (1967) recently has discussed the jaw 

 structure of the two groups. 



In an earlier paper (Gosline, 1962), I advocated the exclusion of 

 the Mugiloidei from the Perciformes as a separate order, largely 

 because of the consistent lack of a direct articulation between the 

 pelvic girdle and the cleithra. At that time, I was unaware of the whole 

 range of variation in this characteristic that occurs in the Anaban- 

 toidei. Because of the doubt thrown on the character of the pelvic- 

 pectoral articulation by the anabantoids, as well as on other grounds 

 (Freihofer, 1963), it seems advisable to return the mugiloid fishes to 

 the Order Perciformes. 



Suborder Anabantoidei 



The suborder Anabantoidei, as recognized herein contains the 

 Ophicephaliformes and Anabantoidei of Berg (1940) and Liem (1963), 

 and the Luciocephalidae (Liem, 1967). The morphological divergence 

 among these three groups is not contested. It seems to me, however 

 as it did to Regan (1909b), that they are related more closely to one 

 another than to any other fishes. They hold in common three morpho- 

 logical features that are highly peculiar among acanthopteran fishes: 



