see text The spikefishes (family Triacanthodidae) are ray-finned fishes related to the pufferfishes and triggerfishes.

[2] The spikefishes are quite variable in form, with some species having tubular snouts (greatly elongated in Halimochirurgus and Macrorhamphosodes), and others have spoon-like teeth for scraping the scales off other fishes.

Depending on the exact species involved, they reach a maximum length of about 5–22 centimetres (2.0–8.7 in).

While spikefish are shaped in a wide variety of different colors, sizes, and shapes, they can characterized by their similarities of having a dense body with relatively thick skin, a large amount of tiny yet spiky scales, two dorsal fins of which the first contains six spines and twelve to eighteen soft spines along the second, a rounded caudal fin, small and terminal mouth with at least 10 average sized conical teeth.

[5] The spikefish family, Triacanthodidae, is divided into two subfamilies and eleven genera as follows:[6] This Tetraodontiformes article is a stub.