35 Perciformes families

Acanthuridae are the family of surgeonfishes, tangs, and unicornfishes. The family includes about 86 extant species of marine fish living in tropical seas, usually around coral reefs. Many of the species are brightly colored and popular in aquaria.

The Anabantidae are a family of ray-finned fish within the order Anabantiformes commonly called the climbing gouramies or climbing perches. The family includes about 34 species. As labyrinth fishes, they possess a labyrinth organ, a structure in the fish's head which allows it to breathe atmospheric oxygen. Fish of this family are commonly seen gulping at air at the surface of the water. The air is held in a structure called the suprabranchial chamber, where oxygen diffuses into the bloodstream via the respiratory epithelium covering the labyrinth organ. This therefore allows the fish to move small distances across land.

Aplodactylus is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes, commonly known as marblefishes or sea carps. It is the only genus in the monogeneric family, Aplodactylidae. The fishes in this genus are found in the south eastern Indian Ocean and the southern Pacific Ocean.

Ariomma is a genus of deepwater, marine perciform fishes. Members of this genus are found in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Several members of this genus are of commercial importance as food fish. This genus is currently the only known genus in its family.

Bathyclupeidae is a family of Perciformes, called deep sea herrings. They are marine fishes found in tropical waters of the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean. They grow up to about 20 cm long.

Combtooth blennies are blenniiformids; percomorph marine fish of the family Blenniidae, part of the order Blenniiformes. They are the largest family of blennies with around 401 known species in 58 generas. Combtooth blennies are found in tropical and subtropical waters in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans; some species are also found in brackish and even freshwater environments.

Caesionidae, the fusiliers, are a family of marine ray-finned fishes in the order Perciformes. The family includes about 23 species. They are related to the snappers, but adapted for feeding on plankton, rather than on larger prey. They are found at reefs in the Indo-Pacific and in the Red Sea.

Centrarchidae are a family of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the order Perciformes. The type genus is Centrarchus. The centrarchid family comprises 38 species of fish, 34 of which are extant and includes many fish familiar to North Americans, including the rock bass, largemouth bass, bluegill, pumpkinseed, green sunfish, and crappies. All species in the family are native to only North America.

Medusafishes are a family, Centrolophidae, of percomorph fishes. The family includes about 31 species. They are found in temperate and tropical waters throughout the world.

Centropomus is a genus of predominantly marine fish comprising the family Centropomidae. The type species is Centropomus undecimalis, the common snook. Commonly known as snooks or róbalos, the Centropomus species are native to tropical and subtropical waters of the western Atlantic and eastern Pacific Oceans.

The snakeheads are members of the freshwater perciform fish family Channidae, native to parts of Africa and Asia. These elongated, predatory fish are distinguished by their long dorsal fins, large mouths, and shiny teeth. They breathe air with gills, which allows them to migrate short distances over land. They have suprabranchial organs, which are primitive forms of labyrinth organs, that develop when they grow older. The two extant genera are Channa in Asia and Parachanna in Africa, consisting of more than 50 species.

Cichlids are fish from the family Cichlidae in the order Cichliformes. Cichlids were traditionally classed in a suborder, the Labroidei, along with the wrasses (Labridae), in the order Perciformes, but molecular studies have contradicted this grouping. The closest living relative of cichlids is probably the convict blenny, and both families are classified in the 5th edition of Fishes of the World as the two families in the Cichliformes, part of the subseries Ovalentaria. This family is both large and diverse. At least 1,650 species have been scientifically described, making it one of the largest vertebrate families. New species are discovered annually, and many species remain undescribed. The actual number of species is therefore unknown, with estimates varying between 2,000 and 3,000.

Cryptacanthodes is a genus of perciform fishes commonly referred to as wrymouths. They are mostly found in the Pacific Ocean with one species native to the Atlantic Ocean where they are benthic fishes, tunneling through soft substrates. It is currently the only known genus in its family.

Datnioides is a genus of fish known commonly as tigerfish, tiger perch or freshwater tripletails. It is the only genus in the family Datnioididae. These fish are found in fresh and brackish waters of rivers, estuaries and coastal areas in South and Southeast Asia, and New Guinea.

The long-finned pike or yellowfin pike is a species of perciform fish, the only species in the genus Dinolestes, as well as the family Dinolestidae.

The Patagonian blennie, also known as the rock cod, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, belonging to the monotypic family Eleginopidae and monotypic genus Eleginops. It is found in coastal and estuarine habitats around southernmost South America.

The Emmelichthyidae are a family of small to medium-sized marine fish known commonly as rovers. The family was once much larger, including a wide range of plankton-eating fish, but most of the genera were discovered to be unrelated examples of parallel evolution, and were moved to other families.

Ephippidae is a family containing the spadefishes, with about eight genera and a total of 20 marine species. Well-known species include the Atlantic spadefish and the reef-dwelling genus Platax, the batfishes, which are kept as aquarium fish. They are spade-shaped and laterally compressed, and have very symmetrical, triangular dorsal and anal fins. They are shiny silver with areas of yellow and vertical brown or black banding. The eyes are often located in one of the vertical bands as a method of camouflage. Scuba divers sometimes mistake them for angelfish, which are similar in shape, but not closely related. Other genera in the family are characterized by long, trailing, pointed dorsal and anal fins. Most species feed primarily on algae and small invertebrates.

Kissing gouramis, also known as kissing fish or kissers, are medium-sized tropical freshwater fish comprising the monotypic labyrinth fish family Helostomatidae. These fish originate from Thailand to Indonesia. They can be food fish which are farmed in their native Southeast Asia. They are used fresh for steaming, baking, broiling, and pan frying. The kissing gourami is a popular aquarium fish.

Labrisomids are small blennioids (blennies), percomorph marine fish belonging to the family Labrisomidae. Found mostly in the tropical Atlantic and Pacific Ocean, the family contains about 110 species in 15 genera.

The louvar or luvar is a species of perciform fish, the only extant species in the genus Luvarus and family Luvaridae. It is closely related to the surgeonfish. The juvenile form has a pair of spines near the base of the tail, like the surgeonfish, though they are lost in the adult.

Monodactylidae is a family of perciform bony fish commonly referred to as monos, moonyfishes or fingerfishes. All are strongly laterally compressed with disc-shaped bodies and tall anal and dorsal fins. Unusually for fish, scales occur on their dorsal fins and sometimes on the anal fins. The pelvic fins are small, sometimes vestigial. They are of moderate size, typically around 25 centimetres (9.8 in) in length, and Monodactylus sebae can be taller than it is long, measuring up to 30 centimetres (12 in) from the tip of the dorsal fin down to the tip of the anal fin. These long, scaly fins have given them the name "fingerfishes". Most are silvery with yellow and black markings; the juveniles are especially attractive, and most species are popular as aquarium fish.

Nomeidae, the driftfishes, are a family of percomorph fishes found in tropical and subtropical waters throughout the world. The family includes about 16 species. The largest species, such as the Cape fathead, Cubiceps capensis, reach 1 m in length.

Nototheniidae, the notothens or cod icefishes, is a family of ray-finned fishes, part of the suborder Notothenioidei which is traditionally placed within the order Perciformes. They are largely found in the Southern Ocean.

Gouramis, or gouramies, are a group of freshwater anabantiform fishes that comprise the family Osphronemidae. The fish are native to Asia—from Pakistan and India to Southeast Asia and northeasterly towards Korea. The name "gourami", of Indonesian origin, is also used for fish of the families Helostomatidae and Anabantidae.

Pentacerotidae or armourheads are a small family of fishes in the order Perciformes. They are native to the Indian Ocean, western and central Pacific, and southwestern Atlantic. They are generally found at rocky reefs below normal scuba diving depths, although several species occur in low densities at shallower depths.

The Percidae are a family of ray-finned fish, part of the order Perciformes, which are found in fresh and brackish waters of the Northern Hemisphere. The majority are Nearctic, but there are also Palearctic species. The family contains more than 200 species in 11 genera. The perches, and their relatives are in this family; well-known species include the walleye, sauger, ruffe, and three species of perch. However, small fish known as darters are also a part of this family.

Marine angelfish are perciform fish of the family Pomacanthidae. They are found on shallow reefs in the tropical Atlantic, Indian, and mostly western Pacific Oceans. The family contains seven genera and about 86 species. They should not be confused with the freshwater angelfish, tropical cichlids of the Amazon Basin.

The cobia is a species of carangiform marine fish, the only representative of the genus Rachycentron and the family Rachycentridae. Other common names include black kingfish, black salmon, ling, lemonfish, crabeater, prodigal son, codfish and black bonito.

Scatophagidae, the scats are a small family of ray-finned fishes in the order Perciformes. They are found in the Indo-Pacific region but one species has been introduced elsewhere.

Sciaenidae are a family of fish in the order Perciformes. They are commonly called drums or croakers in reference to the repetitive throbbing or drumming sounds they make. The family consists of about 286 to 298 species in about 66 to 70 genera.

Rabbitfishes or spinefoots are perciform fishes in the family Siganidae. The 29 species are in a single genus, Siganus. In some now obsolete classifications, the species having prominent face stripes—colloquially called foxfaces–are in the genus Lo. Other species, such as the masked spinefoot, show a reduced form of the stripe pattern. Rabbitfishes are native to shallow waters in the Indo-Pacific, but S. luridus and S. rivulatus have become established in the eastern Mediterranean via Lessepsian migration. They are commercially important food fish, and can be used in the preparation of dishes such as bagoong.

Grunters or tigerperches are ray-finned fishes in the family Terapontidae. This family is part of the superfamily Percoidea of the order Perciformes.

Threefin or triplefin blennies are blenniiforms, small percomorph marine fish of the family Tripterygiidae. Found in tropical and temperate waters of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, the family contains about 150 species in 30 genera. The family name derives from the Greek tripteros meaning "with three wings".

The Moorish idol is a marine fish species, the sole extant representative of the family Zanclidae in order Perciformes. A common inhabitant of tropical to subtropical reefs and lagoons, the Moorish idol is notable for its wide distribution throughout the Indo-Pacific. A number of butterflyfishes closely resemble the Moorish idol. It is closely related to, if not a direct descendant of, the extinct Eozanclus brevirostris, from the Middle Eocene of Monte Bolca.