Perciformes

Maylandia callainos

Perciformes: Largest order of fishes. Most families in many suborders are not currently definable in terms of shared derived characters and thus may not be monophyletic. Most perciforms are marine shore fishes, while about 2,000 species (e.g. cichlids) normally occur only in freshwater, and about 2,200 species occur in freshwater for at least part of their life history.