Aulostomoidei is a suborder of the order Syngnathiformes, which also contains groups such as the seahorses, pipefishes and dragonets.
Other authorities subsume the Aulostomoidea, as well as the Centriscidae (including Macroramphosus), into the "long-snouted clade" which makes up the suborder Syngnathoidei while placing the Dactylopteridae in the "benthic clade".[2]