Caturidae

Caturidae is an extinct family of predatory amiiform ray-finned fish, being the sister-group to the extant family Amiidae. Though their body form is very different than the modern bowfin, a number of features in the skull point towards a close relationship between the groups. Members of the family were generally larger fish that lived within more coastal marine environments along with freshwater environments near the coast. In these environments, caturids would have fed on a variety of prey items, hunting them similarly to fish like gars and barracudas. The earliest members of the family appeared in the early Late Triassic, reaching an apex of diversity during the Jurassic with the youngest records of the group date to the Early Cretaceous.

== History == Caturidae was erected by Owen in 1860 though members of the family have been known since the early 19th century, with genera like Caturus being described before the family was erected. Owen originally placed various fish within the family including genera that would eventually be placed within Pachycormidae including Pachycormus and Sauropsis. After the erection by Owen, Lehman added a number of genera to the family; a few of these including Allolepidotus and Lophiostomus would later be moved to other groups within Halecomorphi. Until the late 20th century, the family was considered a grade of fish rather than a true group, though later work would be done to change this.