The Elopiformes/ˈɛləpɪfɔːrmiːz/ are the order of ray-finned fish including the tarpons, tenpounders, and ladyfish, as well as a number of extinct types. They have a long fossil record, easily distinguished from other fishes by the presence of an additional set of bones in the throat.[2]
They are related to the order of eels, although the adults superficially resemble very large or giant herrings in appearance. The larvae, however, are leptocephalic, looking very similar to those of eels.[2]
Genus †Anaethalion White 1938 [Aethalion von Münster 1842 non Lepeletier & Serville 1828]
Genus †Holcolepis von der Marck 1868 [Macrolepis von der Marck 1863 non Rafinesque 1815; Rhabdolepis von der Marck 1863 non Troschel 1857; Petalolepis Geints 1868]
Genus Elops Linnaeus 1766 non Bonaparte 1831 non Commerson ex Lacépède 1801 [Helops Müller 1835 non Brandt & Ratzeburg 1833 non Agassiz 1846 non Browne 1789; Ellops Minding 1832 non Gistel 1848; Alloelops (Nybelin 1979); Elops (Alloelops) Nybelin 1979; Elops (Gularus) Whitley 1940; Gularus (Whitley 1940); Mugilomorus Lacépède 1803; Trichonotus Rafinesque 1815 non Bloch & S Schneider 1801; Harengus Catesby 1771 non Geoffroy 1767 non Klein 1775 ex Walbaum 1792 non De Garsault 1764] (seven species, one of which was described in 2010)
Genus †Sedenhorstia White & MoyThomas 1941 [Microcoelia Marck 1863 non Guenee 1852 non Lindley 1830 non Agardh 1876]
Genus †Starrias Jordan 1925
Genus Megalops Lacépède 1803 [Amia Browne 1756 ex Browne 1789 non Gronow 1763 ex Gray 1854 non Meuschen 1781 non Linnaeus 1766; Brisbania de Castelnau 1878; Cyprinodon Hamilton 1822 non Lacépède 1803; Oculeus Commerson ex Lacépède 1803; Tarpon Jordan & Evermann 1896] (two species)
^Werner Schwarzhans (2018). "A review of Jurassic and Early Cretaceous otoliths and the development of early morphological diversity in otoliths". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen. 287 (1): 75–121. doi:10.1127/njgpa/2018/0707.
^ abMcCosker, John F. (1998). Paxton, J.R.; Eschmeyer, W.N. (eds.). Encyclopedia of Fishes. San Diego: Academic Press. pp. 85–86. ISBN0-12-547665-5.