See text Scorpaenoidei is a suborder of ray-finned fishes, part of the order Perciformes, that includes the scorpionfishes, lionfishes and velvetfishes.

[1] Some authorities still treat the suborder as being part of the Perciformes[3] but the 5th Edition of Fishes of the World recognises the Scorpaeniformes as a valid order and places this suborder within it.

[3] It has been argued by some authors that the suborder is paraphyletic and that a more correct classification is that the grouping, with some differences, be placed on the superfamily Scorpaenoidea.

[6] The suborder Scorpaenoidei is classified into families and subfamilies in the 5th Edition of Fishes of the World as follows:[4][7] Suborder Scorpaenoidei Scorpaenoidei is rather varied grouping of around 470 species of moderately-sized fishes which have 24 to 44 vertebrae and the ribs towards the head are either absent or rigidly attached to the spine.

[4] Scorpaenoidei contains some of the most venomous fish species known, including lionfishes, stonefishes and other scorpionfishes.