Clupeiformes

Anchovies are small, common forage fish of the family Engraulidae. Most species are found in marine waters, but several will enter brackish water, and some in South America are restricted to fresh water.

Clupeidae is a family of clupeiform ray-finned fishes, comprising, for instance, the herrings and sprats. Many members of the family have a body protected with shiny cycloid (very smooth and uniform) scales, a single dorsal fin, and a fusiform body for quick, evasive swimming and pursuit of prey composed of small planktonic animals. Due to their small size and position in the lower trophic level of many marine food webs, the levels of methylmercury they bioaccumulate are very low, reducing the risk of mercury poisoning when consumed.

Clupeiformes is the order of ray-finned fish that includes the herring family, Clupeidae, and the anchovy family, Engraulidae and sardines. The group includes many of the most important forage and food fish.

The Alosidae, or the shads, are a family of clupeiform fishes. The family currently comprises four genera worldwide, and about 32 species.

Dussumieriidae is a family of clupeiform fishes popularly called the "round herrings". It is now recognized by FishBase as a family in its own right; it had been considered to be a subfamily of Clupeidae. It contains two extant genera, and some potential fossil genera. Possibly the earliest record of the group is Nardoclupea from the Campanian of Italy.

Diplomystus is an extinct genus of freshwater and marine clupeomorph fish distantly related to modern-day extant herrings, anchovies, and sardines. It is known from the United States, Canada, China, Uzbekistan and Lebanon from the Late Cretaceous to the middle Eocene. Many other clupeomorph species from around the world were also formerly placed in the genus, due to it being a former wastebasket taxon. It was among the last surviving members of the formerly-diverse order Ellimmichthyiformes, with only its close relative Guiclupea living for longer.

Clupeoidei is a suborder of marine and freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the order Clupeiformes, an order which includes the herrings, anchovies and shads.

Armigatus is an extinct genus of marine clupeomorph fishes belonging to the order Ellimmichthyiformes. These fishes lived in the Cretaceous (Albian to Campanian, about 103-72 million years ago); their fossil remains have been found in Mexico, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, suggesting the genus ranged across the Tethys Sea.

Spratelloididae is a small family of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the suborder Clupeoidei of the order Clupeiformes, which also includes the anchovies and herrings. The taxa in this family were previously classified within the family Clupeidae but are now considered to be a valid family. One genus, Jenkinsia is found in the Western Atlantic, the other, Spratelloides, in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

Scombroclupea is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish that lived during the Cenomanian.

Sorbinichthys is a genus of extinct ray-finned fish from the Cenomanian of Lebanon and Morocco. It is classified within the order Ellimmichthyiformes. Both species within the genus are small (15 cm) and, like other members of their order, have deep bodies. The most notable feature of the genus is the presence of extremely long 2nd fin rays on the dorsal and pectoral fins that are much longer than the other rays on the respective fins. Sorbinichthys is one of the most basal members of the order and, in some analyes, the sister group of the rest of the order. The fish lived in shallow coast