Vogt ascribed the following genera to Palaeoniscidae: Palaeoniscum, Platysomus (misspelled as Platysemius), Amblypterus, Eurynotus, Pygopterus, and Acrolepis.

[2] Over the years, many other genera of Palaeozoic and Mesozoic early actinopterygians have been referred to Palaeoniscidae[7] due to superficial similarities with the type genus Palaeoniscum from the Guadalupian-Lopingian (middle-late Permian) of Europe.

[6] Similarities were noted in their general morphology, such as the bullet shaped head and forward position of the relatively large eyes, the large gape and oblique jaw support, the body being covered with small, rhombic scales that often show peg-and-socket articulation, and the arrangement and structure of the fins, including the heterocercal caudal fin.

The following list includes species and genera that have been referred to Palaeoniscidae in the past, usually because of broad resemblance with Palaeoniscum freieslebeni.

The listed taxa would imply that the temporal range of the family Palaeoniscidae stretched from the early Permian to the Cretaceous.