Macroramphosinae

Macroramphosinae, the snipefishes and bellowsfishes is a subfamily of oviparous, marine fish which form part of the superfamily Centriscoidea, which is one of the three superfamilies in the suborder Syngnathoidei of the order Syngnathiformes, which includes the seahorses, pipefishes, trumpetfishes and dragonets.

Macroramphosinae
Macroramphosus scolopax
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Syngnathiformes
Suborder:	Syngnathoidei
Superfamily:	Centriscoidea
Family:	Centriscidae
Subfamily:	Macroramphosinae Bleeker, 1879

It has been considered to be a subfamily of the Centriscidae^[1] but Nelson (2016) classified it as a family.^[2] However, Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes (2025) has returned to treating it as a subfamily.^[3]

Genera

There are currently eight recognized extant species in three genera which are placed in the Macroramphosidae:^[4]

• Centriscops Gill, 1862
• Macroramphosus Lacepède, 1803
• Notopogon Regan, 1914

Fossil record

The earliest known syngnathiform is a species of Macroramphosidae, Gasteroramphosus zuppichini from the late Cretaceous, which is similar in form to Marcroramphosus but which has some characters which are suggestive of a relation to Gasterosteoidei.^[4]