Bony-cheeked Fish

This group of fish brings us to the end of the long list of species in the Order Perciformes. There are indeed some systems of classification under which they would be outside this order and in an order of their own, to which names such as Scleroparei have been given. This name means ‘mail-cheeked’, but the characteristic which it denotes is not always obvious. In technical terms: ‘The second suborbital bone is elongated and enlarged across the cheek to articulate with the pre-operculum. This bony stay across the cheek is obvious externally in some fish (for instance the scorpion fishes) but can only be confirmed by dissection in others.’ (Wheeler.)