Phylogenetic relationships among higher taxa within the conodonts that developed a complex apparatus and the resulting classifications are not universally agreed upon due to the different patterns of the apparatus evolution within the class. Using the most recent reconstructions of the prioniodontid apparatuses a picture of their evolution is obtained. The proposed classification is based on different apparatus styles which persisted as unbroken lineages. The proposed suprageneric classification for the prioniodontids includes the order Prioniodontida Dzik, 1976 with the superfamilies Prioniodontoidea Bassler, 1925 and Balognathoidea Hass, 1959. The new order Polyplacognathida with the family Polyplacognathidae Bergstrom, 1981 and the new family Cahabagnathidae is introduced.