Amia Temporal range:
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Bowfin in aquarium | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Clade: | Halecomorphi |
Order: | Amiiformes |
Family: | Amiidae |
Genus: | Amia Linnaeus, 1766 |
Type species | |
Amia calva Linnaeus, 1766
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Species | |
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Synonyms[2][3] | |
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Amia, commonly called bowfin, is a genus of ray-finned fish related to gars in the infraclass Holostei. They are regarded as taxonomic relicts, being the sole surviving species of the order Amiiformes and clade Halecomorphi, which dates from the Triassic to the Eocene, persisting to the present. There are two living species in Amia, Amia calva and Amia ocellicauda, and a number of extinct species which have been described from the fossil record.