Parascorpaena

{{Short description|Genus of fishes}}

{{Automatic Taxobox

| image = Scorpaena Stokesii (Discoveries in Australia).jpg

| image_caption = P. picta from John Lort Stokes' 1846 Discoveries in Australia

| taxon = Parascorpaena

| authority = Bleeker, 1876

| type_species = Scorpaena picta

| type_species_authority = Cuvier, 1829

}}

Parascorpaena is a genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfishes. They are native to the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean.

Taxonomy

Parascorpaena was first formally described as a monotypic genus in 1876 by the Dutch herpetologist and ichthyologist Pieter Bleeker with Cuvier's Scorpaena picta designated as the type species.{{Cof family | family = Scorpaenidae | access-date = 13 January 2022}} The genus name Parascorpaena means "like Scorpaena", as the type species was described as being similar to that genus but separated from it by the possession an forwards and downwards pointing posterior lacrimal spine.{{cite web | url = https://etyfish.org/perciformes9/ | title = Order Perciformes (Part 9): Suborder Scorpaenoidei: Family Scorpaenidae | work = The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database | editor1= Christopher Scharpf | editor2 = Kenneth J. Lazara | name-list-style = amp |date = 2 October 2021 | access-date = 13 January 2022 | publisher = Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara}}

Species

There are currently seven recognized species in this genus:{{FishBase genus | genus = Parascorpaena| month = August | year = 2021}}

File:Parascorpaena mcadamsi.jpg

Other authorities recognize more valid species and include:{{Cof genus | genus = Parascorpaena | access-date = 13 January 2022}}

FishBase places P. grandisquamis in Scorpaena and does not include P. armata{{FishBase family | family = Scorpaenidae | month = August | year = 2021}} in its online database, but Catalog of Fishes does recognize these as valid species.

References