Percopsidae

Percopsidae
Temporal range:
Percopsis omiscomaycus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Percopsiformes
Family: Percopsidae
Agassiz, 1850
Genera
  • †Amphiplaga Cope, 1877
  • †Erismatopterus Cope, 1870
  • †Libotonius Wilson, 1978
  • †Lindoeichthys Murry et al., 2020
  • †Massamorichthys Murray, 1996
  • Percopsis Agassiz, 1849
Synonyms
  • Libotoniidae Grande, 1988

Percopsidae is a family of fish in the order Percopsiformes, with one extant genus with two species, both endemic to North America, and five described fossil genera.

They are small fish with weak fin spines, and an adipose fin similar to those of trout. They feed on insects and small crustaceans.

This is an ancient family with fossil genera known as far back as the Maastrichtian. Many fossil genera appear during the Paleogene. All fossil percopsids are also known from the vicinity of North America, and almost all are known from freshwater habitats. However, a single well-preserved specimen of an apparent marine percopsid is known from the Middle Eocene of Cuba.

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