Mooneye (Hiodon tergisus) is found from the St Lawrence River to Hudson Bay and south through the Mississippi Valley to Alabama, Louisiana, and Arkansas. The mooneye is seemingly absent from Lake Superior. This fish can grow over 18 inches and frequently exceeds 2 pounds in weight. This fish is frequently caught on artificial lures.

Pflieger notes in his book on Missouri fishes that the Mooneye is found almost everywhere in the state of Missouri except the higher Ozarks.

The mooneye family (Hiodontidae) contains two species of fish both of which are found in eastern North America. These are primitive fish that remind one of larger herrings. These are deep bodied, strongly compressed fishes with large eyes.

The order Osteoglossiformes contains several families of freshwater fish. Included here are the mooneyes, knifefish, and the arawanas. There are representatives in Africa, North and South America, and South east Asia.

Bony fish, Class Teleostomi, are a class of chordates that include the majority of fish-like animals found on earth. They are characterized by a bony jaw and a bony skeleton. They are found in both fresh and marine waters.

Backboned Animals (Phylum Chordata) are the most advanced group of animals on earth. These animals are characterized by having a spinal cord or backbone. Most members have a clearly defined brain that controls the organism through a spinal cord. Fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals are in this phylum.

Currently, some taxonomists believe that the fish should be divided into two groups (sharks and regular fishes) and that there are some other primitive groups in the phylum such as hagfish or lampreys.

Animal Kingdom contains numerous organisms that feed on other animals or plants. Included in the animal kingdom are the lower marine invertebrates such as sponges and corals, the jointed legged animals such as insects and spiders, and the backboned animals such as fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.

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