Parascorpaena

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Superclassis/Classis: Actinopterygii
Classis/Subclassis: Actinopteri
Subclassis/Infraclassis: Neopterygii
Infraclassis: Teleostei
Megacohors: Osteoglossocephalai
Supercohors: Clupeocephala
Cohors: Euteleosteomorpha
Subcohors: Neoteleostei
Infracohors: Eurypterygia
Sectio: Ctenosquamata
Subsectio: Acanthomorphata
Divisio/Superordo: Acanthopterygii
Ordo: Scorpaeniformes
Subordo: Scorpaenoidei

Familia: Scorpaenidae
Subfamilia: Scorpaeninae
Genus: Parascorpaena

Parascorpaena aurita

References

Motomura, H.; Sakurai, Y.; Senou, H.; Ho, H. 2009: Morphological comparisons of the Indo-West Pacific scorpionfish, Parascorpaena aurita, with a closely related species, P. picta, with first records of P. aurita from East Asia (Scorpaeniformes: Scorpaenidae). Zootaxa, 2191: 41–57. Abstract & excerpt

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.[1] 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.[2]
Species

There are currently seven recognized species in this genus:[3]

Parascorpaena aurita (Rüppell, 1838) (Golden scorpionfish)
Parascorpaena bandanensis (Bleeker, 1851) (Banda scorpionfish)
Parascorpaena maculipinnis J. L. B. Smith, 1957
Parascorpaena mcadamsi (Fowler, 1938) (McAdam's scorpionfish)

A McAdam's scorpionfish (Parascorpaena mcadamsi).

Parascorpaena mossambica (W. K. H. Peters, 1855) (Mozambique scorpionfish)
Parascorpaena moultoni (Whitley, 1961) (Coral perch)[4]
Parascorpaena picta (G. Cuvier, 1829) (Northern scorpionfish)
Parascorpaena poseidon T. K. Chou and T. Y. Liao. 2022

Other authorities recognize more valid species and include:[5][4]

Parascorpaena armata (Sauvage 1873)
Parascorpaena grandisquamis (Ogilby 1910)

FishBase places P. grandisquamis in Scorpaena and does not include P. armata[6] in its online database, but Catalog of Fishes does recognize these as valid species.[5]
References

Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Scorpaenidae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara, eds. (2 October 2021). "Order Perciformes (Part 9): Suborder Scorpaenoidei: Family Scorpaenidae". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2021). Species of Parascorpaena in FishBase. August 2021 version.
Bray, D.J. (2018). "Parascorpaena moultoni". Fishes of Australia. Museums Victoria. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Parascorpaena". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2021). "Scorpaenidae" in FishBase. August 2021 version.