Lophiiformes

Classification

Alternatively, Lophiiformes may be treated as clade within Acanthuriformes; a 2025 paper defines Lophioidei as equivalent to the prior conception of Lophiiformes (the one depicted above) and converts the suborders into infraorders (as seen below). Below are two cladograms; the left one is based on a phylogeny which elaborates on the relationships of the suborders within Lophiiformes as set out in Pietsch and Grobecker's 1987 Frogfishes of the World: Systematics, Zoogeography, and Behavioral Ecology, while the right is based on Maile et al's 2025 phylogenetic study which combines the analysis of Ultra-Conserved Elements (UCE)s, mitochondrial DNA, and morphological evidence;