no. 3847 PERCIFORM FISHES — GOSLINE 15 



Whereas the great majority of the lower percoids and, for that mat- 

 ter, of lower teleosts, live constantly in midwater, i.e., off the bottom, a 

 great many adult percoid derivatives have taken up a life in direct 

 contact with the bottom, making only short dashes to obtain food or to 

 avoid enemies. Some of the various percoid derivatives that have 

 adopted this habit are the Blennioidei, Gobioidei, Scorpaeniformes, 

 Pleuronectiformes, Gobiesociformes, and many Lophiiformes. The fin 

 requirements of such forms are in many respects almost opposite to 

 those of a swimming fish. An account of them can be deferred best to 

 the section on the suborder Blennioidei (see p. 48). 



Of the suborders among the Percoidei and their presumed deriva- 

 tives, there are some for which I can add little or nothing to existing 

 knowledge. It seems well to deal with these first, leaving until last 

 those suborders to which the major portion of the present investigation 

 has been devoted. 



Suborder Percoidei 



For purposes of the present paper, the superfamily (division) classi- 

 fication of Regan (1913, p. 112) will be accepted, except that his 

 Gadopsiformes, Nototheniiformes, Callionymiformes, and most of his 

 Trachiniformes have been removed and, following Norman (1929), the 

 Chiasmodontoidae have been added. Here, Regan's Gadopsiformes 

 are included in the Ophidioidei; the Nototheniiformes and most of the 

 Trachiniformes have been placed in the Blennioidei; and the Calliony- 

 miformes have been taken out of the order Perciformes. The only 

 family of Trachiniformes retained in the suborder Percoidei is the 

 Opistognathidae, and this seems to belong in the superfamily Percoi- 

 dae, close to the Acanthoclinidae. The Trachiniformes of Regan, thus, 

 is abolished. 



Suborder Kurtoidei 



This suborder consists of a single genus. The anatomy of this peculiar 

 fish has been described by de Beaufort (1914). I can add only that, in 

 six specimens of Kurtus indicus examined, five had 15 and one had 14 

 branched caudal rays; de Beaufort and Chapman's (1951, p. 82) state- 

 ment that the suborder has the "Caudal with 17 divided rays" seems 

 to be in error. 



Suborder Schindlerioidei 



This is another perciform suborder based upon a single isolated 

 genus. The fish is neotenic, but its peculiar caudal supporting structure 

 seems to be unique among fishes of any stage of ontogenetic develop- 

 ment (Gosline, 1959). The most recent of the varied suggestions con- 

 cerning the relationships of Schindleria is that it might have evolved 

 from something near the ammodytoid Hypoptychus (Gosline, 1963). 



