The Pelagibacterales is an order in the Alphaproteobacteria composed of free-living bacteria that make up roughly one in three cells at the ocean's surface. Overall, members of the Pelagibacterales are estimated to make up between a quarter and a half of all prokaryotic cells in the ocean. Initially, this taxon was known solely by metagenomic data and was known as the SAR11 clade. It was first placed in the Rickettsiales, but was later raised to the rank of order, and then placed as sister order to the Rickettsiales in the subclass Rickettsidae.