{{Short description|Suborder of fishes}} {{Automatic taxobox | fossil_range = {{fossil range|67|0|Maastrichtian to present}} | image = Ophidion barbatum Sardinia.JPG | image_caption = ''Ophidion barbatum'' | image2 = EncheliophBoraborensorangkucing.jpg | image2_caption = ''Encheliophis boraborensis'' inside of a sea cucumber | taxon = Ophidioidei | authority = Garman, 1899<ref name = Zootaxa>{{cite journal | author1 = Richard van der Laan | author2 = William N. Eschmeyer | author3 = Ronald Fricke | name-list-style = amp |year=2014 | title = Family-group names of recent fishes | url = https://biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.3882.1.1/10480 | journal = Zootaxa | volume = 3882 | issue =2 | pages = 1–230}}</ref> | subdivision_ranks = | subdivision = }}
'''Ophidioidei''' is one of two suborders in the order Ophidiiformes, the cusk eels, viviparous brotulas and pearlfishes. The main distinction from the suborder Bythitoidei is that the Ophidioidei are oviparous, other features include having a caudal fin which is joined to both the anal fin and the dorsal fin forming an even combined fin which tapers to a point, a lack of an external intromittent organ in males and the anterior nostril is placed high above the mouth.<ref name = Nelson5>{{cite book | author1 = Joseph S. Nelson | author2 = Terry C. Grande | author3 = Mark V. H. Wilson | name-list-style = amp | year = 2016 | title = Fishes of the World | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=kLDDCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA315 | publisher = John Wiley & Sons | isbn= 1-119-22081-5 | pages = 315–316}}</ref>
==Families==
The following families are classified in the suborder Ophidioidei:<ref name = Nelson5/><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Wong |first=Man-Kwan |last2=Chen |first2=Wei-Jen |date=2024-10-01 |title=Exploring the phylogeny and depth evolution of cusk eels and their relatives (Ophidiiformes: Ophidioidei) |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1055790324001568 |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |volume=199 |article-number=108164 |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2024.108164 |issn=1055-7903|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name=":13">{{Cite web |last=Fricke |first=R. |last2=Eschmeyer |first2=W. N. |last3=Van der Laan |first3=R. |date=2025 |title=ESCHMEYER'S CATALOG OF FISHES: CLASSIFICATION |url=https://www.calacademy.org/eschmeyers-catalog-of-fishes-classification |access-date=2025-02-10 |website=California Academy of Sciences |language=en}}</ref>
* Family Acanthonidae <small>Wong & Chen, 2024</small> (deepsea cusk-eels) * Family Brotulidae <small>Swainson, 1838</small> (bearded cusk-eels) * Family Ophidiidae <small>Rafinesque, 1810</small> (cusk-eels) * Family Carapidae <small>Poey, 1867</small> (pearlfishes)
==References== {{Reflist}}
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Category:Ophidiiformes Category:Taxa named by Samuel Garman