Carcharhiniformes
order of fishes
Carcharhiniformes (; from Ancient Greek καρχαρός (karkharós) 'sharp, jagged', ῥινός (rhinós) 'nose' and Latin forme 'shape'), commonly called ground sharks, are the largest order of sharks, with over 270 species. They include a number of common types, such as cat sharks, swellsharks, and hound sharks.
Members of this order are characterized by the presence of a nictitating membrane over the eye, two dorsal fins, an anal fin, and five gill slits.
The families in the order Carcharhiniformes are expected to be revised; recent DNA studies show that some of the conventional groups are not monophyletic.
The oldest members of the order appeared during the Middle-Late Jurassic, which have teeth and body forms that are morphologically similar to living catsharks. Carchariniformes first underwent major diversification during the Late Cretaceous, initially as mostly small-sized forms, before radiating into medium and large body sizes during the Cenozoic.
Families
Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes classifies the Carcharhiniformes into two suborders and twelve families:
Suborder Scyliorhinoidei
Family Scyliorhinidae Gill, 1862 (catsharks)
Suborder Carcharhinoidei
Family Atelomycteridae E. G. White, 1936 (coloured catsharks)
Family Pentanchidae Smith, 1912 (deepwater catsharks)
Family Dichichthyidae W. T. White, Stewart, Reuben
O'Neill & Naylor, 2024 (bristle sharks)
Family Pseudotriakidae Gill, 1893 (false catsharks)
Family Proscylliidae Fowler, 1941 (finback catsharks)
Family Leptochariidae Gray, 1851 (barbeled houndsharks)
Family Triakidae Gray, 1851 (houndsharks)
Subfamily Triakinae Gray, 1851 (smooth-hounds)
Subfamily Galeorhininae Gill, 1862 (school sharks)
Family Hemigaleidae J.C.F. Hasse, 1878 (weasel sharks)
Family Carcharhinidae D. S. Jordan & Evermann, 1896 (requiem sharks)
Family Galeocerdonidae Poey, 1875 (tiger sharks)
Family Sphyrnidae Bonaparte, 1840 (hammerhead sharks)
Fossil genera
The following fossil genera of Carcharhiniformes are also known:
Genus †Altusmirus Fuchs, Engelbrecht, Lukeneder & Kriwet, 2017
Genus †Corysodon Saint-Seine, 1949
Genus †Platyrhizodon Guinot, Underwood, Cappetta & Ward, 2013
Genus †Vectiscyllium Duffin & Batchelor, 2024
Family Carcharhinidae
Genus †Abdounia Cappetta, 1980
Genus †Archaeogaleus Guinot, Cappetta & Adnet, 2014
Genus †Danogaleus Noubhani & Cappetta, 1997
Genus †Eogaleus Cappetta, 1975
Genus †Eorhincodon Li, 1997
Genus †Fornicatus Fuchs, Engelbrecht, Lukeneder & Kriwet, 2018
Genus †Kruckowlamna Laurito Mora, 1999
Genus †Misrichthys Case & Cappetta, 1990
Genus †Pseudabdounia Ebersole, Cicimurri & Stringer, 2019
Family †Florenceodontidae Cappetta, Morrison & Adnet, 2019
Genus †Florenceodon Cappetta, Morrison & Adnet, 2019
Family †Leptocarchariidae Adnet et al., 2020
Genus †Leptocarcharias Adnet et al., 2020
Family Hemigaleidae
Genus †Moerigaleus Underwood & Ward, 2011
Family Galeocerdonidae
Genus †Physogaleus Cappetta, 1980
Family †Pseudoscyliorhinidae Stumpf, Scheer & Kriwet, 2019
Genus †Diprosopovenator Stumpf, Scheer & Kriwet, 2019
Genus †Pseudoscyliorhinus Müller & Diedrich, 1991
Family Pentanchidae
Genus †Pseudoapristurus Pollerspöck & Straube, 2017
Family Proscyllidae
Genus †Praeproscyllium Underwood & Ward, 2004
Family Scyliorhinidae
Genus †Bavariscyllium Thies, 2005
Genus †Cadiera Guinot, Cappetta & Adnet, 2014
Genus †Casieria Noubhani & Cappetta, 1997
Genus †Crassescyliorhinus Underwood & Ward, 2008
Genus †Cretascyliorhinus Underwood & Mitchell, 1999
Genus †Foumtizia Noubhani & Cappetta, 1997
Genus †Megascyliorhinus Cappetta & Ward, 1977
Genus †Microscyliorhinus Case, 1994
Genus †Orthodon Coquand, 1860
Genus †Pachyscyllium Reinecke, Moths, Grant & Breitkreuz, 2005
Genus †Palaeoscyllium Wagner, 1857
Genus †Platyrhizoscyllium Adnet, 2006
Genus †Porodermoides Noubhani & Cappetta, 1997
Genus †Premontreia Cappetta, 1992
Genus †Prohaploblepharus Underwood & Ward, 2008
Genus †Protoscyliorhinus Herman, 1977
Genus †Pteroscyllium Cappetta, 1980
Genus †Scyliorhinotheca Kiel, Peckmann & Simon, 2013
Genus †Sigmoscyllium Guinot, Underwood, Cappetta & Ward, 2013
Genus †Stenoscyllium Noubhani & Cappetta, 1997
Genus †Thiesus Guinot, Cappetta & Adnet, 2014
Genus †Tingaleus Cappetta, 1993
Family Triakidae
Genus †Archaeotriakis Case, 1978
Genus †Gomphogaleus Adnet & Cappetta, 2008
Genus †Kallodentis Engelbrecht, Mörs, Reguero & Kriwet, 2017
Genus †Khouribgaleus Noubhani & Cappetta, 1997
Genus †Meridiogaleus Engelbrecht, Mörs, Reguero & Kriwet, 2017
Genus †Pachygaleus Cappetta, 1992
Genus †Palaeogaleus Gurr, 1962
Genus †Palaeotriakis Guinot, Underwood, Cappetta & Ward, 2013
Genus †Rhaibodus Böhm, 1926
Genus †Squatigaleus Cappetta, 1989
Genus †Xystrogaleus Adnet, 2006
References
Further reading
Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2013) Fish Identification: Ground sharks in FishBase. March 2013 version.
Sepkoski, Jack (2002).
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