Systematics of Intertidal Fishes

The chapter focuses on the classification of intertidal fishes. Modern classifications of fishes are based on principles of phylogenetic systematics, which is strictly genealogical, and phylogenetic classifications communicate evolutionary history. The chapter also provides a descriptive paragraph for each family of fishes represented in the intertidal ichthyofaunal assemblage along with a summary of the taxonomic distribution of rocky intertidal fishes at the levels of class and order. It was observed that with a single elasmobranch exception, the classes Myxini, Cephalaspidomorphi, Chondrichthyes, and Sarcopterygii do not presently contribute to the rocky intertidal ichthyofauna. Within the Class Acrinopterygii, strictly freshwater species are (obviously) not reported from the intertidal zone, even as strays; diadromous species are negligible components of the intertidal ichthyafauna. Intertidal fish species are concentrated within the two most derived superorders of the Euteleostei, the Paracanthopterygii, and the Acanthopterygii. Within the latter group, the percomorph orders Scorpaeniformes and Perciformes contain the most intertidal species.