The bichirs are a family (Polypteridae) of primitive ray-finned fishes, the sole family in the order Polypteriformes. They have thick bonelike scales and a series of dorsal finlets instead of a single fin. All 16 recognized species occur in freshwater habitats in Africa. They are popular subjects of public and large hobby aquaria.
Note: Lund (2000) believes that the guildayichthyiforms were specialized to have strong medial bones concentrating the force of the bite in the small antorbital jaw and permitting high maneuverability in "geometrically complex environments." The sister group relationship with the polypteriforms is very strong and stable.
Note: The polypteriforms anchor the crown group Actinopterygii at what is believed to be a very early stage in actinopterygian evolution, and a wide phylogenetic gap lies between the polypteriforms and the next living group (the Chondrostei).
Under these circumstances it is not clear that the proposed synapomorphies for the crown group Actinopterygii have a great deal of credibility.
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