An order of teleost fishes consisting of two monophyletic clades, suborders Osteoglossoidei and Notopteroidei. The Osteoglossoidei consists of one family, the Osteoglossidae (bonytongues and butterfly fishes), which occur in freshwaters of tropical South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia to northern Australia. The Notopteroidei consist of three extant families, Notopteridae (Old World knifefishes and featherfin knifefishes, or featherbacks), Mormyridae (elephantfishes), and Gymnarchidae (gymnarchid eel). The featherbacks are native to central tropical Africa, India, and the Malay Archipelago. The elephantfish family, having a long proboscislike snout in many species, is the most species-rich osteoglossiform taxon but is limited to tropical Africa and the Nile River. The family Gymnarchidae is represented by a single species, Gymnarchus niloticus, of tropical Africa including the upper Nile.