Fish Guide

Osteoglossiformes
Osteoglossum bicirrhosum
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia   Phylum: Chordata   Class: Actinopterygii   Order: Osteoglossiformes
Families
Gymnarchidae Heterotididae Mormyridae (elephantfishes) Notopteridae (featherfin knives) Ostariostomidae (extinct) Osteoglossidae (arowana) Pantodontidae (butterflyfishes) Singidididae (extinct)

Osteoglossiformes (Lat. "bony tongues") is a relatively primitive order of ray-finned fish that contains two sub-orders the Osteoglossoidei and the Notopteroidei

Members of the order are notable for having toothed or bony tongues, and for having the forward part of the gastrointestinal tract pass to the left of the oesophagus and stomach (for all other fish it passes to the right).

One species, the arapaima (Arapaima gigas) is the largest freshwater fish known, with specimens reported up to 4.5 m in length.

The mooneyes (Hiodontidae) are often classified here, but may also be placed in a separate order Hiodontiformes.

External links

• Mikko's Phylogeny for Osteoglossiformes
• Osteoglossiforms for aquaria
• Li, Guo-Qing and Wilson, Mark V. H. 1998. Osteoglossomorpha. Bonytongues. Version 06 October 1998. [1] in The Tree of Life Web Project