Elopidae

Elopidae
Temporal range:
Elops saurus
Davichthys, a fossil elopid from the Late Cretaceous
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Elopiformes
Family: Elopidae
Bonaparte, 1832
Type species
Elops saurus
Linnaeus, 1766
Genera

See text

Synonyms
  • Elopina Günther 1868
  • Siagonotes Duméril 1805

The Elopidae are an ancient family of ray-finned fish, one of two living members of the order Elopiformes. They containing a single living genus, Elops, and many extinct genera dating back to the Late Jurassic, when the earliest stem-group elopids are known. They appear to have diverged from their closest relatives, the Megalopidae, during the Jurassic.