Emmelichthyidae was first proposed as a taxonomic grouping in 1867 by the Cuban naturalist Felipe Poey.

[2] Other authorities classify the Emmelichthyidae and the Sciaenidae as incertae sedis within the series Eupercaria.

[3] The Catalog of Fishes retains this family within the Acanthuriformes but does not recognise the suborder Sciaenoidei.

They have distensible jaws and large mouths with the maxillae widely expanded and clearly scaled.

[2] Emmelichthyidae is distributed in tropical and warmer temperate waters in the Indo-Pacific, southern Pacific, eastern Atlantic, and Caribbean Sea.