Genera of Paralepididae — Harry 
245 
happens, the retention of the Alepisauroidea 
should be still justifiable because the greatest 
phylogenetic break in this suborder is between 
the Paralepididae and the other families. 
The earliest known paralepidid, Holosteus 
esocinus Agassiz (1844: 85, PL 43, Fig. 5) ap- 
pears to be very close to the recent genus 
Lestidium and may actually belong in it. The 
dorsal fin seems to have been pushed back 
out of position during fossilization, and it 
appears from the illustration that it should 
be approximately equidistant between verti- 
cals from the ventral and anal fins. 
The most primitive fossil paralepidid seems 
to \y^Drimys defemor]oidi 2 .x\ (1925: 14, PI. 4b), 
the clearest intermediate stage yet found be- 
tween the Chlorophthalmidae and Paralepidi- 
dae. Unfortunately the only known Miocene 
fossil is badly crushed. There are 45 vertebrae, 
a number considerably lower than known for 
any recent paralepidid. The presence of large, 
coarsely striated scales is more like a chlo- 
rophthalmid, whereas the description of the 
dentition of the upper jaw is very much like 
that of a paralepidid. 
T r ossulus exoletus (1921: 250, Pis. 8c, 
28a) is another Miocene fossil from the Lom- 
poc diatom beds. In general appearance it 
seems to be a generalized paralepidid with a 
foreshortened body. It shows closest similari- 
ties to Magnisudis but actually may be an 
intermediate form between a chlorophthalmid 
and a paralepidid. The eye is small, the last 
dorsal rays are over the anterior anal rays. 
Of particular significance is the fact that the 
maxillary is narrow and the premaxillary forms 
the margin of the upper jaw. There are 50 
vertebrae, a number most closely approaching 
the genera Paralepis and Magnisudis. 
The fossil Lestichthys porteousi ]oM 2 in (1921: 
250, Pis. lOb and 22b) from the Lompoc 
Miocene diatom beds appears to be very close 
to the genus Lestidium. The vertebral count 
of 86, proportions, and osteological notes 
seem to place it in the tribe Lestidiini of the 
subfamily Paralepidinae. 
One of the best known fossils is Paralepis 
alhyi Sauvage ( = Paralepis sphekodes) from the 
Pliocene. This form is very ably reviewed by 
Arambourg (1927), who cites the scattered 
literature and gives sketches of the jaw bones 
and scapula. 
The genus Parascopelus Sauvage appears to 
belong in the Paralepididae near the genus 
Sudis, but the position of the ventral fins far 
forward is unique in the family. 
SUMMARY 
The family Paralepididae comprises seven 
genera {Paralepis, Notolepis, Magnisudis, Lesti- 
dium, Macroparalepis, Stemonosudis , Sudis) and 
48 living species. It is differentiated from all 
other families of the order Iniomi by a charac- 
teristic toothless emargination in the upper 
jaw below the end of the snout, by a large 
foramen through the premaxillary in all gen- 
era except Sudis, by the rictus being well be- 
fore the eye, and by the position of the dorsal 
fin which is near the middle of the body 
length far behind the pectoral fins. The Para- 
lepididae are regarded as most closely related 
to the Anotopteridae and Alepisauridae of the 
suborder Alepisauroidea. 
The Paralepididae are divided into two sub- 
families— the Paralepidinae and Sudinae. The 
former is characterized by the presence of a 
foramen in the anterior process of the pre- 
maxillary, by slender smooth teeth, by the 
inner pelvic rays being longer than the outer, 
and by the pectoral fins remaining small 
throughout ontogeny. In the Sudinae the pre- 
maxillary lacks a foramen, the mandibular 
teeth are broad and serrate, the outer pelvic 
rays are longer than the inner rays, and the 
pectoral fins are greatly prolonged during 
early postembryonic stages. The subfamily 
Sudinae is monotypic, containing the genus 
Sudis which is known from the Mediterranean 
and Madeira. 
Evolution in the family generally appears 
to have progressed by losses of pre-existing 
characters. This is particularly evident with 
such structures as squamation, gillteeth, pig- 
