[2] Other authorities place this family alongside the Drepaneidae in the order Ephippiformes with the Moronidae classified as incertae sedis in the series Eupercaria.

[8] Ephippidae spadefishes have deep, oval-shaped, laterally compressed bodies with a short head and small terminal mouth.

[10] While Ephippidae spadefishes are common in the western Atlantic from New England to southern Brazil, adult spadefishes are difficult to harvest commercially due to their size and preferred habitats of submerged spaces, despite consumer appeal for its nutrients and quality of flesh.

[11] Ephippidae spadefishes eat algae, benthic and planktonic invertebrates such as sponges, zoantharians, polychaete worms, gorgonians and tunicates.

[9] The batfish Platax pinnatus may play the role of a critical functional group in the Great Barrier Reef by eating seaweed that other herbivorous fishes such as parrotfish and surgeonfish will not touch.