Gempylidae

The Gempylidae are a family of perciform fishes commonly known as snake mackerels or escolars. The family includes about 25 species.

They are elongated fishes with a similar appearance to barracudas, having a long dorsal fin, usually with one or finlets trailing it. The largest species, including the snoek (Thyrsites atun), grow up to 2 m long, and the oilfish (Ruvettus pretiosus) can reach 3 m, though they rarely surpass 150 cm. Like the barracudas, they are predators, with fang-like teeth.

Taxonomy
The Gempylidae are broadly categorized into two clades; Clade 1, which includes more derived & elongate genera, and Clade 2, which includes more basal & fusiform genera. The Trichiuridae are an outgroup.
 * Subfamily Clade 1 Mthethwa, 2023
 * Genus Diplospinus
 * Diplospinus multistriatus Maul, 1948 (Striped escolar)
 * Genus Gempylus
 * Gempylus serpens G. Cuvier, 1829 (Snake mackerel)
 * Genus Nealotus
 * Nealotus tripes J. Y. Johnson , 1865 (Black Snake mackerel)
 * Genus Nesiarchus
 * Nesiarchus nasutus J. Y. Johnson, 1862 (Black gemfish)
 * Genus Paradiplospinus
 * Paradiplospinus antarcticus Andriashev, 1960 (Antarctic escolar)
 * Paradiplospinus gracilis (A. B. Brauer, 1906) (Slender escolar)
 * Genus Promethichthys
 * Promethichthys prometheus (G. Cuvier, 1832) (Roudi escolar)
 * Genus Rexea
 * Rexea alisae C. D. Roberts & A. L. Stewart, 1997
 * Rexea antefurcata Parin, 1989 (Long-finned escolar)
 * Rexea bengalensis (Alcock, 1894) (Bengal escolar)
 * Rexea brevilineata Parin, 1989 (Short-lined escolar)
 * Rexea nakamurai Parin, 1989 (Nakamura's escolar)
 * Rexea prometheoides (Bleeker, 1856) (Royal escolar)
 * Rexea solandri (G. Cuvier, 1832) (Silver gemfish)
 * Genus Rexichthys
 * Rexichthys johnpaxtoni Parin & Astakhov, 1987 (Paxton’s escolar)
 * Genus Thyrsites
 * Thyrsites atun (Euphrasén, 1791) (Snoek)
 * Genus Thyrsitoides
 * Thyrsitoides marleyi Fowler, 1929 (Blacksail snake mackerel)
 * Genus Thyrsitops
 * Thyrsitops lepidopoides (G. Cuvier, 1832) (White Snake Mackerel)
 * Genus Tongaichthys
 * Tongaichthys robustus I. Nakamura & E. Fujii, 1983 (Tonga escolar)
 * Subfamily Clade 2 Mthethwa, 2023
 * Genus Epinnula
 * Epinnula magistralis Poey, 1854
 * Epinnula pacifica Ho, Motomura, Hata & Jiang, 2017
 * Genus Lepidocybium
 * Lepidocybium flavobrunneum (A. Smith, 1843) (Escolar)
 * Genus Neoepinnula
 * Neoepinnula americana (M. G. Grey, 1953) (American sackfish)
 * Neoepinnula minetomai Nakayama, Y. Kimura & Endo, 2014 (Large-eyed sackfish)
 * Neoepinnula orientalis (Gilchrist & von Bonde, 1924) (Sackfish)
 * Genus Ruvettus
 * Ruvettus pretiosus Cocco, 1833 (Oilfish)

Gempylidae are believed to have first evolved at least 20 million years after the Late Cretaceus Extinction event, potentially due to tectonic plate movements.