The Zeiformes are a small order

Order (biology)

In scientific classification used in biology, the order is# a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family...

 of marine ray-finned fishes most notable for the dories, a group of common food fish. The order consists of about 40 species in seven families, mostly deep-sea types.

Zeiform bodies are usually thin and deep. Mouths are large, with distensible jaws, and there is no orbitosphenoid]. Pelvic fins have 5-10 soft rays and possibly a spine, 5-10 dorsal fin

Dorsal fin

A dorsal fin is a fin located on the backs of various unrelated marine and freshwater vertebrates, including most fishes, marine mammals , and the ichthyosaurs...

 spines and up to 4 anal fin spines. They range in size from the Dwarf Dory (Macrurocyttus acanthopodus), at 43 millimetres (1.7 in) in length, to the Cape dory (Zeus capensis), which measures up to 90 centimetres (35.4 in).

The classification of the boarfishes (Caproidae) in this order is uncertain, since they have many perciform characters, for instance in the caudal skeleton.

Families

• Suborder Zeioidei
  • Family Cyttidae (lookdown dories)
  • Family Grammicolepididae (tinselfishes)
  • Family Oreosomatidae
    Oreosomatidae
    The Oreos are a family, the Oreosomatidae, of marine fish. Most species are found in the southern hemisphere, inhabiting continental slopes down to about depth.- Species :The family is relatively small, containing nine species in four genera:...
    
     (oreos)
  • Family Parazenidae (Parazen)
  • Family Zeidae
    Zeidae
    The Zeidae are a family of large, showy, deep-bodied zeiform marine fish—the "true dories". Found in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Ocean, the family contains just six species in two genera...
    
     (dories)
  • Family Zenionidae
    Zenionidae
    The Zenionidae are a family of large, showy, deep-bodied zeiform marine fish. Found in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Ocean, the family contains just seven species in three genera.The family was formerly known as Macrurocyttidae.- Species :...
    
     (zeniontids) (formerly known as Macrurocyttidae)
• Suborder Caproidei
  • Family Caproidae
    Caproidae
    Boarfishes are a small family, Caproidae, of marine fishes comprising two genera and twelve species. They are usually placed in the order Zeiformes with the dories, but this placement is uncertain, since boarfishes have many perciform characters, for instance in the caudal skeleton...
    
    (boarfishes)