Zoarcoidei

Zoarcoidei is a suborder of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the order Perciformes. The suborder includes the wolffishes, gunnels and eelpouts. The suborder includes about 400 species. These fishes are predominantly found in the boreal seas of the Northern Hemisphere but they have colonised the Southern Hemisphere. Many members of this suborder are extremophiles adapted to deepwater ecosystems (including hydrothermal vents) and polar waters.

==Taxonomy== Zoarcoidei was first proposed as a taxonomic grouping by the American zoologist Theodore Gill in 1893 as the superfamily Zoarceoidea. The 5th edition of Fishes of the World classifies the Zoarcoidei as a suborder within the order Scorpaeniformes. Other authorities classify this taxon as the infraorder Zoarcales within the suborder Cottoidei of the Perciformes because removing the Scorpaeniformes from the Perciformes renders that taxon paraphyletic. The monophyly of this grouping has still not been fully ascertained but it is generally accepted that the family Bathymasteridae is sister to the remaining lineages in the group.