As with many other percomorphs, most members of this group were originally placed in the
Perciformes. Previously,
Fishes of the World defined this order as restricted to the blennies and their close relatives, and placed several taxa such as the
damselfishes,
jawfishes, and
surfperches as indeterminate members of Ovalentaria. Phylogenetic evidence suggests that these families form a successive grade leading to blennies, leading to them also being placed in this order by newer authorities such as ''
Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes. Some studies go even further and also place the Cichliformes and Mugiliformes (the closest relatives of this group based on phylogenetic studies) within this order, although this is not followed by Catalog of Fishes''. The following families are placed here by ''Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes'': • Order
Blenniiformes • Family
Pseudochromidae Müller &
Troschel, 1849 - dottybacks • Family
Plesiopidae Günther, 1861 - roundheads • Family
Pomacentridae Bonaparte, 1831 -
damselfishes &
anemonefishes • Family
Embiotocidae Agassiz, 1853 - surfperches • Family
Grammatidae Jordan, 1887 - gramma basslets • Family
Opistognathidae Bonaparte, 1835 - jawfishes • Suborder Gobiesocoidei • Family
Gobiesocidae Bleeker, 1859 - clingfishes • Suborder
Blennioidei - blennies • Family
Tripterygiidae Whitley, 1931 - triplefins or threefin blennies • Family
Blenniidae Rafinesque, 1810 - combtooth blennies • Family
Clinidae Swainson, 1839 - kelp blennies • Family
Labrisomidae
Clark Hubbs, 1952 - labrisomid blennies • Family
Chaenopsidae Gill, 1865 - pikeblennies or tube blennies • Family
Dactyloscopidae Gill, 1859 - sand stargazers == References ==