see text Zoarcoidei is a suborder of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the order Perciformes.

Zoarcoidei was first proposed as a taxonomic grouping by the American zoologist Theodore Gill in 1893 as the superfamily Zoarceoidea.

[1] The 5th edition of Fishes of the World classifies the Zoarcoidei as a suborder within the order Scorpaeniformes.

[3] The monophyly of this grouping has still not been fully ascertained but it is generally accepted that the most basal family is Bathymasteridae.

[2] Zoarcoidei has the following superfamilies and families classified under it:[2][4] Zoarcoidei is based on the genus name Zoarces which was coined by Georges Cuvier in 1829 and which means "live bearing", as in the type species Zoarces viviparus, the viviparous blenny.