Revision of Parapercis — Cantwell 
243 
Bloch ( 1801 ) , erected the genus Percis, using 
as the type species Percis maculata. The genus 
Percis Bleeker (1844 and 1876), Dumeril 
(1836), and Gunther ( 1880), is preoccupied by 
Scopoli, 1777, in which he used Coitus japonicus 
Pallas as its type species. More recent authors 
have placed some parapercids in the genus 
Percis; however, the type of Bloch’s genus Percis 
maculata cannot be defined as a parapercid, 
hence Percis and Parapercis cannot be considered 
synonymous. 
Berg ( 1947 ) and Schultz et al. ( I960) place 
the genus Parapercis in the family Mugiloididae. 
The two other genera, Mugiloides Lacepede 
(1802) [ Pinguipes Cuvier (1829)] and Pro- 
latilis Gill (1865) { Pseudopercis Ribeiro 1904], 
are restricted to South America. Characters com- 
mon to the family Mugiloididae as well as the 
super-family Trachinoidae (of Berg) are: gill 
arches, 4; branchiostegals, 6; pelvics, I, 5; nos- 
trils, two pairs, the anterior being tubular; no 
scales on the dorsal or anal fins; and one oper- 
cular spine. Other characters shared by the gen- 
era of the family are: branched caudal fin rays, 
8 plus 7; complete dorsal fin with IV to VII 
spines followed by 19 to 28 branched rays; anal 
fin with one simple non-cross-striated ray fol- 
lowed by 16 to 26 branched rays. 
Mugiloides and Prolatilus differ from Para- 
percis as follows: the vertebrae and fin ray 
counts are greater in number in the South 
American genera than in the Indo-Pacific genus 
Parapercis. Vertebrae: Mugiloides and Prolatilus, 
15 or 16 abdominal and 20 or 21 caudal; Para- 
percis, 10 abdominal and 18 to 21 caudal. Dorsal 
fin formula: Mugiloides, VI or VII, 26 to 28; 
Prolatilus, IV, 28; Parapercis, IV or V, 19 to 23. 
Anal fin formula: Mugiloides, I, 22 to 26; Pro- 
latilus, I, 23; Parapercis, I, 16 to 19. 
The dentition of Parapercis differs from the 
South American genera by having the outer row 
of canine teeth at the anterior end of the lower 
jaw well developed but separated from those 
teeth on the sides of the jaw by an edentulous 
TABLE 3 
Number of Longitudinal Scale Rows for Species of Parapercis 
SPECIES 
40 
to 
44 
45 
to 
49 
50 
to 
54 
55 
to 
59 
60 
to 
64 
65 
to 
69 
70 
to 
74 
75 
to 
79 
80 
to 
84 
85 
to 
89 
n 
y 
s 
rams ay i 
- 
- 
- 
- 
3 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
3 
61.0 
1.00 
aurantiaca 
- 
- 
- 
- 
1 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
1 
61.0 
- 
multifasciata. .... „ 
- 
- 
- 
4 
21 
1 
- 
- 
- 
- 
26 
60.9 
1.35 
binivirgata. 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
3 
- 
- 
- 
- 
3 
66.3 
0.58 
sexfasciata 
- 
- 
- 
- 
25 
15 
- 
- 
- 
- 
40 
64.2 
0.88 
mimaseana 
- 
- 
- 
- 
1 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
1 
64.0 
- 
muronis 
- 
- 
3 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
3 
53.0 
0.57 
colias 
- 
- 
- 
- 
17 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
17 
62.1 
0.86 
allporti 
- 
- 
- 
- 
9 
- 
- 
- 
- 
— 
9 
61.9 
1.17 
gilliesi........ 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
7 
- 
- 
- 
- 
7 
66.3 
1.11 
schauinslandi 
- 
- 
- 
14 
11 
- 
— 
- 
_ 
_ 
25 
59.2 
1.22 
filamentosa...... 
- 
- 
- 
3 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
_ 
3 
58.7 
0.58 
alb o guttata 
- 
- 
- 
4 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
4 
58.8 
0.60 
emery an a 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
3 
5 
- 
- 
8 
74.1 
0.83 
nebulosa 
3 
20 
2 
25 
82.5 
2.29 
haackei 
- 
6 
3 
9 
48.8 
1.05 
cylindrica 
- 
20 
5 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
25 
48.1 
2.34 
snyderi 
8 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
8 
40.5 
0.53 
pulchella 
- 
- 
- 
9 
22 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
31 
60.5 
1.55 
ommatura 
- 
- 
- 
25 
1 
- 
- 
- 
_ 
_ 
26 
57.9 
1.14 
cephal opun ctata. 
- 
_ 
— 
31 
21 
_ 
_ 
— 
_ 
_ 
52 
59.3 
1.12 
clathrata. 
- 
- 
23 
4 
- 
— 
_ 
_ 
_ 
27 
58.7 
0.95 
hexophthalma.. 
- 
— 
— 
— 
3 
7 
3 
_ 
_ 
_ 
13 
66.6 
3.29 
polyophthalma 
- 
— 
_ 
_ 
2 
14 
2 
_ 
_ 
_ 
18 
66.9 
2.29 
tetracantha. 
- 
6 
8 
- 
- 
- 
- 
_ 
14 
59.9 
1.00 
xanthozona.. 
- 
- 
- 
10 
9 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
19 
59.7 
1.20 
