Caproidae
Caproidae, or boarfishes, are a small family of marine fishes comprising two genera and 12 species. They were formerly placed in the order Zeiformes with the dories, but were later moved to Perciformes based on percoid characteristics of the caudal skeleton and other morphological evidence. More recent revisions of Percomorpha have seen them placed in Caproiformes or Acanthuriformes. Boarfishes are native to the Indian, Atlantic, and Pacific Oceans, where they are mainly found at depths below 50 m (160 ft).
| Boarfishes Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
| Deepbody boarfish, Antigonia capros | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Caproiformes |
| Family: | Caproidae Bonaparte, 1835 |
| Genera | |
Boarfishes have deep and thin bodies. They are small, with only a few species known to reach a maximum total length of 30 cm (12 in). Their coloration is red, pink, and silvery.
The earliest identified caproid fossils date to the middle Eocene epoch of the early Tertiary period, or roughly 48.6 to 40 million years ago.