The suborder Clupeoidei, with about 350 species, includes almost all Recent species of the Clupeomorpha, but relationships among the three clupeoid superfamilies (Engrauloidea, Clupeoidea and Pristigasteroidea) remain unresolved to date. The Clupeoidea and Engrauloidea are herein hypothesized as sister groups on the basis of morphological evidence. Among the proposed characters, only the presence of cartilage chevrons at the tips of epicentrals was previously reported as a possible synapomorphy for the Clupeoidea Engrauloidea. Two additional characters are herein proposed in support of this hypothesis: the posteriorly directed parapophyses of the second vertebra and the interzygapophysal articulation. Evidence counter to this proposed relationship is the common presence of the gongyloid cartilage in the branchial arches of Pristigasteroidea and Engrauloidea, a structure apparently previously unrecorded in the literature and whose homologies are discussed. Additional circumstantial evidence for the clade Clupeoidea Engrauloidea are also discussed. The position of Pristigasteroidea as a basal group of Clupeoidei has potential implications for the currently accepted sister-group relationship between Clupeomorpha and Ostariophysi.