See text 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.

Agonidae species generally feed on small crustaceans and marine worms found on the bottom.

They live at 1,280 m (4,200 ft) deep, with only a few species preferring shallower, coastal waters.