The Scorpaeniformes are a diverse order of ray-finned fish, including the lionfishes and sculpins, but have also been called the Scleroparei. It is one of the five largest orders of bony fishes by number of species, with over 1,320.
Agonidae is a family of small, bottom-dwelling, cold-water marine fish. Common names for members of this family include poachers, Irish lords, sea ravens, alligatorfishes, starsnouts, hooknoses, and rockheads. They are notable for having elongated bodies covered by scales modified into bony plates, and for using their large pectoral fins to move in short bursts. The family includes about 59 species in some 25 genera, some of which are quite widespread.
Ronquils is a small family marine ray-finned fish, the Bathymasteridae. These fishes are found only in Arctic and North Pacific waters. This family contains just seven species in three genera. The larger species are important to commercial fisheries as food fish. Ronquils are most closely related to the eelpouts and prowfish in the suborder Zoarcoidei of the order Scorpaeniformes.
Rhamphocottidae is a family of ray-finned fishes belonging to the superfamily Cottoidea, the sculpins. The species in this family occur in the North Pacific Ocean.
Hexagrammidae, the greenlings, is a family of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the suborder Cottoidei in the order Scorpaeniformes. These fishes are found in the North Pacific Ocean.
Congiopodidae, commonly known as pigfishes, horsefishes and racehorses, is a family of ray-finned fish classified with in the order Scorpaeniformes. These fishes are native to the Southern Hemisphere.
Anarhichadidae, the wolffishes, sea wolves or wolf eels, is a family of marine ray finned fishes belonging to the order Scorpaeniformes. These are predatory, eel shaped fishes which are native to the cold waters of the Arctic, North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans.
Pholidae is a family of marine ray-finned fishes, known as gunnels, in the scorpaeniform suborder Zoarcoidei. These are fishes of the littoral zone and are mainly found in North Pacific Ocean, with two species found in the North Atlantic Ocean and Arctic Ocean.
Stichaeidae, the pricklebacks or shannies, are a family of marine ray-finned fishes in the suborder Zoarcoidei of the order Scorpaeniformes. Most species are found in the North Pacific Ocean with a few in the North Atlantic Ocean.
The quillfish,, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, it is the only species in the genus Ptilichthys and family Ptilichthyidae. This fish occurs in the northern North Pacific Ocean.
The Australian prowfishes are a small family, the Pataecidae, of ray-finned fishes classified within the order Scorpaeniformes. Australian prowfishes are distinguished by a long dorsal fin that begins far forward on the head, forming a "prow" shape, and extends all the way to the caudal fin. They lack scales and pelvic fins.
The Trichodontidae, or sandfishes, are a small family of ray-finned fishes from the order Scorpaeniformes. The species in this family are found in the North Pacific Ocean.
Zoarcoidei is a suborder of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the order Scorpaeniformes. The suborder includes the wolffishes, gunnels and eelpouts. The suborder includes about 400 species. These fishes predominantly found in the boreal seas of the northern hemisphere but they have colonised the southern hemisphere.
Aulorhynchidae, the tube-snouts, is a small family of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the suborder Gasterosteoidei in the order Scorpaeniformes. These fishes are found in the northern Pacific Ocean.
The Zaniolepididae is a family of marine ray-finned fishes classified within the suborder Cottoidei of the order Scorpaeniformes. They are found in the North Pacific Ocean.
Cryptacanthodes is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the monogeneric family Cryptacanthodidae, commonly referred to as wrymouths. Three of the four species are found in the Pacific Ocean with one species native to the western Atlantic Ocean where they are benthic fishes, tunneling through soft substrates. It is currently the only known genus in its family.
Easchmeyer nexus is a species of marine ray-finned fish; it is the only species in the monotypic genus Eschmeyer and monogeneric family Eschmeyeridae. This fish is only known from the Pacific Ocean, near Fiji.
Cottoidei is a suborder of ray-finned fishes which, according to the 5th edition of Fishes of the World, is placed within the order Scorpaeniformes, alongside the scorpionfishes, flatheads, eelpouts, sticklebacks and related fishes.
Opisthocentrinae is a subfamily of marine ray-finned fishes, classified within the family Stichaeidae, the pricklebacks or shannies. These fishes are found in the North Pacific Ocean.
Jordaniidae is a small family of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the order Scorpaeniformes. These fishes are found in the eastern North Pacific Ocean.
