Jellynose fish
| Jellynose fishes | |
|---|---|
| Deep-water ateleopid fish (Ijimaia plicatellus) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Clade: | Neoteleostei |
| Order: | Ateleopodiformes |
| Family: | Ateleopodidae Bonaparte, 1850 |
| Type species | |
| Ateleopus japonicus Bleeker, 1853 | |
| Genera | |
The jellynose fishes or tadpole fishes are the small order Ateleopodiformes. This group of ray-finned fish is monotypic, containing a single family Ateleopodidae. It has about a dozen species in four genera, but these enigmatic fishes are in need of taxonomic revision.
The scientific name means "Ateleopus-shaped", from Ateleopus (the type genus) + the standard fish order suffix "-formes". It ultimately derives from Ancient Greek atelēs (ἀτελής, "imperfect") + pous (πούς, "foot") + Latin forma ("external form"), the Greek part in reference to the reduced pectoral and ventral fins of the jellynoses.