Dercetidae

Dercetidae is an extinct family of marine enchodontoid ray-finned fish that lived from the late Cretaceous to potentially the lower Eocene, being found worldwide. All members of the family are generally long-bodied with long jaws. Most dercetids were small fish though one of the generally agreed upon members, Dercetis magnificus, had a standard length of 1 metre (3.3 ft). Similar to other enchodontiods, the taxonomic history of the family is long and complicated with previous authors suggesting close placements to fish like deep-sea spiny eels and salmon. More recently, however, arguments have been made against Dercetidae being a monophyletic clade. Even with this being the case, papers referencing the group generally lean to the family being a true taxonomic grouping.