Oceanic basslets

The oceanic basslets are ray-finned fish that belong to the small family Howellidae within the superfamily Percoidea of the suborder Percoidei part of the order Perciformes. The family includes about 9 species. They are mostly deep-water species, some of which move to shallower waters at night. Various species are found in the Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean, including the Coral Sea, and Atlantic Ocean, including the Caribbean Sea.

Genera
The following three genera are classified as part of the Howellidae:

The potential fossil genus Praegaleagra David, 1946 is known from isolated scales from the Late Eocene of California.
 * Bathysphyraenops Parr, 1933
 * Howella Ogilby, 1899
 * Pseudohowella Fedoryako, 1976