Order Summary for Acipenseriformes

  Main Ref
:
  Order
:
Acipenseriformes sturgeons and paddlefishes
  Class
:
Chondrostei
  Sister Order
:
Polypteriformes 200 M years
  Ref.
:
  First Fossil Record
:
middle Jurassic
  Occurs in
:
Marine
Fresh
Brackish
  Remark
:
Caudal fin heterocercal; myodome and preopercle reduced or absent; gulars absent; skeleton largely cartilaginous; fin rays more numerous than their basals; intestine with spiral valve.
  Class etymology
:
Greek aktis = ray, thunderbolt, beam + Greek pterygion, diminutive of pteryx = wing, fin. Ref. 45335.
  Order etymology
:
Latin, acipenser = sturgeon + Latin, forma = shape (Ref. 45335).
  Families
:

Ref.
[ e.g. 9948]                       
Glossary
                    [ e.g. cephalopods]

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