See text for species. Chordates ( Phylum Chordata) are a group of Animals that includes the Vertebrates together with several closely related Invertebrates The Actinopterygii (the plural form of Actinopterygius) comprise the class of the ray-finned fishes. Clupeiformes is the order of ray-finned fish that includes the Herring family Clupeidae, and the Anchovy family Engraulidae.