Temporal range: Late Silurian–Present, 425–0 Ma[1]
PreꞒ
Ꞓ
O
S
D
C
P
T
J
K
Pg
N
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Superclass:
Osteichthyes
Class:
Actinopterygii Klein, 1885
Subclasses
Cladistia (bichirs)
Actinopteri
Chondrostei (sturgeon and paddlefish)
Neopterygii
Holostei (bowfin and gars)
Teleosteomorpha
Teleostei (teleosts)
Actinopterygii (/ˌæktɪnɒptəˈrɪdʒiaɪ/; from actino- 'having rays', and Ancient Greek πτέρυξ (ptérux) 'wing, fins'), members of which are known as ray-finned fish or actinopterygians, is a class of bony fish[2] that comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species.[3] They are so called because of their lightly built fins made of webbings of skin supported by radially extended thin bony spines called lepidotrichia, as opposed to the bulkier, fleshy lobed fins of the sister class Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned fish). Resembling folding fans, the actinopterygian fins can easily change shape and wetted area, providing superior thrust-to-weight ratios per movement compared to sarcopterygian and chondrichthyian fins. The fin rays attach directly to the proximal or basal skeletal elements, the radials, which represent the articulation between these fins and the internal skeleton (e.g., pelvic and pectoral girdles).
The vast majority of actinopterygians are teleosts. By species count, they dominate the subphylum Vertebrata, and constitute nearly 99% of the over 30,000 extant species of fish.[4] They are the most abundant nektonic aquatic animals and are ubiquitous throughout freshwater and marine environments from the deep sea to subterranean waters to the highest mountain streams. Extant species can range in size from Paedocypris, at 8 mm (0.3 in); to the massive ocean sunfish, at 2,300 kg (5,070 lb); and to the giant oarfish, at 11 m (36 ft). The largest ever known ray-finned fish, the extinct Leedsichthys from the Jurassic, has been estimated to have grown to 16.5 m (54 ft).
^Zhao, W.; Zhang, X.; Jia, G.; Shen, Y.; Zhu, M. (2021). "The Silurian-Devonian boundary in East Yunnan (South China) and the minimum constraint for the lungfish-tetrapod split". Science China Earth Sciences. 64 (10): 1784–1797. Bibcode:2021ScChD..64.1784Z. doi:10.1007/s11430-020-9794-8. S2CID 236438229.
^Kardong, Kenneth (2015). Vertebrates: Comparative Anatomy, Function, Evolution. New York: McGraw-Hill Education. pp. 99–100. ISBN 978-0-07-802302-6.
^Nelson, Joseph S. (2016). Fishes of the World. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1-118-34233-6.
Actinopterygii (/ˌæktɪnɒptəˈrɪdʒiaɪ/; from actino- 'having rays', and Ancient Greek πτέρυξ (ptérux) 'wing, fins'), members of which are known as ray-finned...
Ribozyviria, containing the single species Deevirus actinopterygii. Various ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii) serve as its hosts. Chang WS, Pettersson JH,...
vertebrates. The group is divided into two main clades, the ray-finned fish (Actinopterygii, which makes up the vast majority of extant fish) and the lobe-finned...
chordates, about half are ray-finned fishes that are members of the class Actinopterygii and the vast majority of the rest are tetrapods (mostly birds and mammals)...
/æktɪˈnɒptəraɪ/ is the sister group of Cladistia (bichirs) in the class Actinopterygii (ray-finned fish). Dating back to the Permian period, the Actinopteri...
"Internal cranial anatomy of Early Triassic species of †Saurichthys (Actinopterygii: †Saurichthyiformes): implications for the phylogenetic placement of...
(meaning "spiny finned one") is a superorder of bony fishes in the class Actinopterygii. Members of this superorder are sometimes called ray-finned fishes for...
with a number of records from the Jurassic of Europe. Ray-finned fish (Actinopterygii) were major components of Jurassic freshwater and marine ecosystems...
(sharks, rays and ratfish) Osteichthyes or bony fish, which include: Actinopterygii or ray-finned fish, which comprises the majority of living bony fish...
"Phylogenetic classification of living and fossil ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii)". Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History. 65. doi:10.3374/014...
between species assigned to different genera. While ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii) have a long evolutionary history culminating in the most familiar fishes...
parasphenoid. Cladistia are the earliest diverging branch of living Actinopterygii, and are thought to have diverged from the Actinopteri, the group which...
Formation of Western Australia and the interrelationships of the early Actinopterygii". Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society...
The endangered species of China may include any wildlife species designated for protection by the national government of China or listed as endangered...
species of vertebrates. Both its major subgroups are successful today: Actinopterygii includes most extant bony fish species, and Sarcopterygii includes the...
Fish vary greatly in size. The whale shark and basking shark exceed all other fish by a considerable margin in weight and length. Fish are a paraphyletic...
with varying structures among different clades: in ray-finned fish (Actinopterygii), fins are mainly composed of bony spines or rays covered by a thin...
biology of fossil and living bony-tongue fishes, Osteoglossomorpha (Actinopterygii: Teleostei)". Neotropical Ichthyology. 16 (3). doi:10.1590/1982-0224-20180031...
bony fishes (Osteichthyes). The ancestors of the ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii) evolved their fins in a different direction. The Tetrapodomorph ancestors...
Hemirhabdorhynchus is an extinct genus of prehistoric Actinopterygii, or ray-finned fish, that lived from the early to middle Eocene. Paleontology portal...
Denys; H. Jokinen; J. Merilä (2018). "Platichthys solemdali sp. nov. (Actinopterygii, Pleuronectiformes): A New Flounder Species From the Baltic Sea". Front...
S2CID 17226211. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 December 2013. "Actinopterygii: More on Morphology". University of California Museum of Paleontology...
skeletons. This is in contrast to the other clade of bony fish, the Actinopterygii, which have only skin-covered bony spines supporting the fins. The tetrapods...
Examples of albino laboratory mammals Albinism is the congenital absence of melanin in an animal or plant resulting in white hair, feathers, scales and...
"Notodectes is the first endemic pachycormiform genus (Osteichthyes, Actinopterygii, Pachycormiformes) in the Southern Hemisphere". Journal of Vertebrate...
(or bony fish). The bony fish evolved into two separate groups: the Actinopterygii (or ray-finned fish) and Sarcopterygii (which includes the lobe-finned...
Chondrichthyes (cartilaginous fish: chimeras, sharks and rays) Osteichthyes Actinopterygii (ray-finned fish, which includes most familiar bony fish) Sarcopterygii...
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