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Beryciformes are fish which are considered to be the primitive predecessors of the perch. Unlike the typical modern fish, the beryciform fish will lead one to believe that they are fish in which the well developed spiny ray of perches first appeared. This has led scientists to believe that beryciform fishes were undoubtedly very important in the earlier geological periods. In any case, these fish lack or only have a few of the hard fin rays and have a very primitive anatomy that is most unlike todays fish. They also differ in skull structure from the perch. Their most distinctive feature is the mucus canal under the skin of the head which is developed to different degrees in the various families. In some species the swim bladder is still connected to the gut while the pelvic fin consist of one hard ray and as many as thirteen soft rays. Another interesting feature of this fish is the presence of several spines on different parts of the body.
To date three suborders have been identified with a total of twelve families. One of the suborders of the beryciform has three families that are extremely obscure and includes the deep sea pricklefish, the deep sea bigscale fish and the gibberfish. All of these are small deep sea species of which only a few have ever been caught. Gibberfish are known to have an a typical later line organ that is similar to that of the rondeletiids and consist of mucus filled papillary canals that are vertical. Interestingly, the large head deep sea bigscale fish have a short, vertically sloping snout with a broad mouth opening and wide mucus canals in the head. In many cases the skull bones of this fish have leaf shaped broadened portions. The beardfish, which is another little known suborder of the beryciform has four species in it's suborder. These fish are characterized by their large eyes, tiny scales and two long chin barbels that often branch. The odd looking deep sea prickle fish has a blunt, slanted snout and large mouth that gives it a vicious appearance when viewing it head on or from some side angles.
Similar to the beryciformes only because of their obscure nature as a deep sea group of fish are the berycoids. There are eight known families of this strange looking fish. A diretmus argenteus, which is one of the species, that was caught off the coast of Madeira was very strangely shaped. Other species of the berycoid from the family Trachichthyidea appear more perch like being darkly colored fish that come from the deep waters in warmer ocean parts. One deep sea fish that is aptly named the fangtooth is from the single family Anoplogasteridae. This fish has a frightening appearance with long sharp teeth, a huge head and a very large mouth. Another fish that is similar to the beryciformes, but in this case due more to their ancestral forms that were known to appear as far back as the Jurassic period, are from the berycide family.
Of the berycide family the best known species is the alfonsino which tends to live in the deeper areas of the tropical Pacific and Atlantic oceans. This species is has a bright white body color with scarlet fins, as well as, scarlet along the ridge of it's back and head. When this fish dies the entire body takes on a deep red color. The scales of the alfonsino have spines that give the fish a feeling of roughness.
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