CLASS PISCES 443 



2. An Abridged Classification of Living Fishes 



The classification of fishes is attended with many difficulties, 

 since it is as yet impossible to determine the relationships of 

 many of the groups. That adopted in this book is a simplified 

 arrangement of the classifications used in some of the recent 

 publications. Synonyms are placed in parentheses after some 

 of the names. There are about twelve thousand species of 

 fishes known from the entire world. Of these Jordan and 

 Evermann in their large four-volume work on the Fishes of 

 North and Middle America have described one hundred 

 and ninety-eight families and thirty-three hundred species 

 from the waters of North America north of the Isthmus of 

 Panama. 



Besides the living fishes there are a great many species known 

 only as fossils ; in fact, a number of orders, suborders, and fam- 

 ilies contain nothing but fossil forms. These will be considered 

 later (p. 474). 



Subclass I. Teleostomi. The True Fishes. 

 Order 1. Crossopterygii. The Polypteridae. 

 Order 2. Chondrostei. The Paddle-fishes and Sturgeons. 

 Family Polyodontid^e. The Paddle-fishes. 

 Family Acipenserid^e. The Sturgeons. 

 Order 3. Holostei. The Garpikes and Bowfins. 

 Family Amiid^e. The Bowfins. 

 Family Lepisosteid^e. The Garpikes. 

 Order 4. Teleostei. The Bony Fishes. 

 Suborder 1. Cypriniformes (Ostariophysi). The Carp, 

 Minnows, Suckers, and Catfishes. 

 Family Cyprinid^e. The Carp, Minnows, and Suckers. 

 Subfamily Catostomin^e. The Suckers. 

 Subfamily Cyprinin^e. The Carp and Minnows. 

 Family Silurid^e. The Catfishes. 

 Suborder 2. Clupeiformes (Isospondyli, Malacop- 

 terygii). The Herrings, Trouts, Salmons, etc. 



