Paraulopus

{{short description|Genus of fishes}}

{{Automatic Taxobox

| fossil_range = {{fossil range|Aptian|present}}

| image = Paraulopus nigripinnis1.jpg

| image_caption = Paraulopus nigripinnis

| parent_authority = Tomoyasu Sato & Nakabo, 2002

| taxon = Paraulopus

| authority = Tomoyasu Sato & Nakabo, 2002

| display_parents = 3

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision = See text.

}}

Paraulopus is the only genus in the family Paraulopidae, a family of grinners in the order Aulopiformes. They are commonly known as cucumberfishes, but locally some other Teleostei are also known by that name. They were considered in the Chlorophthalmidae or greeneye family until 2001.

The fishes tend to be slender and cylindrical, with large eyes and a large terminal mouth with only slightly protruding lower jaw.{{cite web|last1=Bray|first1=Dianne|last2=Gomon|first2=Martin|title=Family PARAULOPIDAE|url=http://www.fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/family/289|website=Fishes of Australia|accessdate=14 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150105160858/http://www.fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/family/289|archive-date=5 January 2015|url-status=dead}}

The earliest known fossil evidence of cucumberfishes are otoliths from the Aptian and Albian of Spain, France, and Texas. It remains uncertain whether these otoliths actually belong to Paraulopus itself or to an extinct fossil paraulopid genus.{{Cite journal |last1=Schwarzhans |first1=Werner |last2=Stringer |first2=Gary L. |last3=Welton |first3=Bruce |date=2022-12-01 |title=Oldest Teleostean Otolith Assemblage from North America (Pawpaw Formation, Lower Cretaceous, upper Albian, northeast Texas, USA) |journal=Cretaceous Research |volume=140 |pages=105307 |doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2022.105307 |issn=0195-6671|doi-access=free }}