"Panchax"

Aplocheilidae

Indian Ocean to Thailand

Cynolebiidae

South America, Europe, Asia

Kenyaichthyidae

Kenya

Nothobranchiidae

Africa

"The molecular phylogeny of aplocheiloid killifishes shows a pattern similar to that of cichlids (Murphy & Collier, 1997). The Neotropical and African clades are sisters to each other, together forming the sister group of the Indian-Malagasy clade. Within the latter, the single species occurring on the Seychelles (Pachypanchax playfairii) is sister to the two Malagasy Pachypanchax rather than to the Indian Aplocheilus." - (Vences 2004)

Suborder Aplocheiloidei Bleeker, 1859.

1. Attached orbital rim.
2. Cartilaginous mesethmoid.
3. Close set pelvic girdles.
4. Broad anterior end of the basihyal.
5. Narrow and twisted lacrimal.
6. Tubular anterior nans.
7. Reduced cephalic sensory pores.
8. Males more elaborately pigmented than females.
9. Posterior extension of the vomer dorsal to the anterior arm of the parasphenoid. (Parenti 1981)