背棘鱼科为辐鳍鱼纲背棘鱼目的其中一科。

背棘鱼科下分3个属，如下：

The deep-sea spiny eels are a family, Notacanthidae, of fishes found worldwide below 125 m (410 ft), and as deep as 3,500 m (11,500 ft). The earliest known spiny eel is Pronotacanthus sahelalmae, from the Santonian of what is now Lebanon.