牛鱼科为辐鳍鱼纲鲈形目的其中一个科。

牛鱼科其下分3个属，如下：

The thornfishes are a family, Bovichtidae, of fishes in the order Perciformes. The family is spelled Bovichthyidae in J. S. Nelson's Fishes of the World. They are native to coastal waters off Australia, New Zealand, and South America, and to rivers and lakes of southeast Australia and Tasmania.