Actinopteri is the sister group of Cladistia

Cladistia

Cladistia is a clade consisting of few anguilliforme remnants of an ancient diversity. Their major synapomorphies are a dorsal fin with independent rays and a posteriorly elongated parasphenoid.Cladistia is the sister group of Actinopteri....

. Dating back to the Permian

Permian

The PermianThe term "Permian" was introduced into geology in 1841 by Sir Sir R. I. Murchison, president of the Geological Society of London, who identified typical strata in extensive Russian explorations undertaken with Edouard de Verneuil; Murchison asserted in 1841 that he named his "Permian...

 period, the Actinopteri are comprise the Chondrostei

Chondrostei

Chondrostei are primarily cartilaginous fish showing some ossification. There are 52 species divided among two orders, the Acipenseriformes and the Polypteriformes ....

 (sturgeons and paddlefishes) and the Neopterygii

Neopterygii

Neopterygii is a group of Actinopteri animals. Neopterygii means "new fins". There are only few changes during their evolution from the earlier actinopterygians. They appeared somewhere in the Late Permian, before the time of the dinosaurs. The Neopterygii is a very successful group of fishes,...

 (bowfin, gars, and teleosts). Modern actinopterygians generally feed using a suction mechanism, with the mouth parts forming a tube. Prey are drawn in, and then masticated for consumption. The Actinopterygii

Actinopterygii

The Actinopterygii or ray-finned fishes constitute a class or sub-class of the bony fishes.The ray-finned fishes are so called because they possess lepidotrichia or "fin rays", their fins being webs of skin supported by bony or horny spines , as opposed to the fleshy, lobed fins that characterize...

 are the "ray-finned" fishes. The Actinopter group consists of the descendants of the most recent common ancestor of the sturgeons and teleoststains, and includes:

• Chondrostei
  Chondrostei
  Chondrostei are primarily cartilaginous fish showing some ossification. There are 52 species divided among two orders, the Acipenseriformes and the Polypteriformes ....
  
  
  • Acipenseriformes
    Acipenseriformes
    Acipenseriformes are an order of primitive ray-finned fishes that includes the sturgeons and paddlefishes, as well as some extinct families.Notable characteristics of Acipenseriformes include:* Cartilaginous endoskeleton* Lack of vertebral centrum...
    
    
    • Acipenseroidei
      Acipenseroidei
      Acipenseroidei is a suborder of Acipenseriformes animals that contains:*Acipenseridae**Acipenserinae***Acipenserini***Scaphirhychini**Husinae***Huso*Polyodontidae**Polyodontinae***Polyodontini***Psephurini...
      
      
• Neopterygii
  Neopterygii
  Neopterygii is a group of Actinopteri animals. Neopterygii means "new fins". There are only few changes during their evolution from the earlier actinopterygians. They appeared somewhere in the Late Permian, before the time of the dinosaurs. The Neopterygii is a very successful group of fishes,...
  
  
  • Amiiformes
    Amiiformes
    Amiiformes is an order of fish, of which only one species, the Bowfin, Amia calva, is still extant.-Taxonomy:Amiiformes Hay 1929*Superfamily Amioidea Bonaparte 1838**Family Amiidae Bonaparte 1837***Subfamily Amiinae Bonaparte 1837...
    
    
    • Amiidae
      Amiidae
      Amiidae is a family of primitive ray-finned fish. Only one species, Amia calva, the bowfin, survives today, although additional species in all four subfamilies are known from Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Eocene fossils....
      
      
  • Semionotiformes
    Semionotiformes
    Semionotiformes is an order of primitive, ray-finned, primarily freshwater fish from the Triassic to the Cretaceous. The most well-known genus is Semionotus of Europe and North America....
    
    
    • Lepisosteidae
  • Teleostei
    Teleostei
    Teleostei is one of three infraclasses in class Actinopterygii, the ray-finned fishes. This diverse group, which arose in the Triassic period, includes 20,000 extant species in about 40 orders; most living fishes are members of this group...
    
    
    • Elopocephala
    • Osteoglossomorpha
      Osteoglossomorpha
      Osteoglossomorpha is a group of bony fish in the Teleostei.-Notable members:A notable member is the Arapaima , the largest freshwater fish in South America and one of the very largest bony fishes alive. Other notable members include the bizarre freshwater elephantfishes .-Systematics:Most...