Otocephala is a clade of ray-finned fishes within the infraclass Teleostei that evolved some 230 million years ago.

The clade contains Clupeiformes (herrings) and Ostariophysi, a group of other orders including Cypriniformes (minnows and allies), Gymnotiformes (knifefish), and Siluriformes (catfish).

[1][2][3][4] In 2015, Benton and colleagues set a "plausible minimum" date for the origin of crown Otocephala as about 228.4 million years ago.

They argued that since the oldest locality for any diversity of stem teleosts is the Carnian of Polberg bei Lunz, Austria, whose base is 235 million years old, a rough estimate for Otocephala can be made.

Taxonomy based on:[4][11][12] Phylogeny of living groups based on:[13] Clupeiformes (herrings and relatives) Alepocephaliformes (slickheads and tubeshoulders) Gonorynchiformes (milkfish and relatives) Cypriniformes (minnow, carp, loach) Characiformes (tetras and piranhas) Gymnotiformes (knifefish) Siluriformes (catfish)