Esocoidei

The Esocoidei is a small <a href="/facts/Suborder/GKLJvIpt">suborder</a> of freshwater <a href="/facts/Actinopterygii/3PNaXXmJ">ray-finned fish</a>, one of two suborders in the order <a href="/facts/Salmoniformes/gAw219CG">Salmoniformes</a>. It contains two families, <a href="/facts/Umbridae/2QpGCav1">Umbridae</a> and <a href="/facts/Esocidae/pm91tuz9">Esocidae</a>. The pikes of genus <a href="/facts/Esox/VlyCCQVB">Esox</a> give the order its name.
This order is closely related to the <a href="/facts/Salmonidae/gAw219CG">Salmonoidei</a>, the two comprising the order Salmoniformes. The esociform fishes first appeared in the late <a href="/facts/Cretaceous/nwKtFtKx">Cretaceous</a> — early products of the <a href="/facts/Euteleost/RTu4uYNq">Euteleostei</a> radiation of that time. They diverged from their sister group <a href="/facts/Salmonidae/gAw219CG">Salmoniformes</a> about 110 million years ago, with the extant species having evolved from a common ancestor that lived about 90 million years ago. Today, they are found in weed-choked freshwater habitats in <a href="/facts/North_America/djNjCQIl">North America</a> and northern <a href="/facts/Eurasia/KlLI9GDM">Eurasia</a>.

Esocoidei open-in-new

Esocoidei