Gonorynchiformes

The Gonorynchiformes are an order of ray-finned fish that includes milkfish, beaked sandfishes, and snake mudheads. These fish are characterized by being toothless and having a unique caudal skeleton. They also possess epibranchial organs, which are specialized structures in their gills.12

While some members, like the beaked sandfish (Gonorhynchus gonorhynchus), are found in the Indo-Pacific and can burrow into sand, others inhabit freshwater environments in Africa. The Gonorynchiformes are part of the superorder Ostariophysi, but they lack a true Weberian apparatus, a bony connection between the swim bladder and inner ear found in other ostariophysans.312