Paraulopus
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.
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.
Species
The currently recognized species in this genus are:Paraulopus atripes Tomoyasu Sato & Nakabo, 2003Paraulopus balteatus M. F. Gomon, 2010 Paraulopus brevirostris Paraulopus filamentosus Paraulopus japonicus Paraulopus legandi Paraulopus longianalis Tomoyasu Sato, M. F. Gomon & Nakabo, 2010 Paraulopus maculatus Paraulopus melanogrammus M. F. Gomon & Tomoyasu Sato, 2004 Paraulopus melanostomus Tomoyasu Sato, M. F. Gomon & Nakabo, 2010 Paraulopus nigripinnis Paraulopus novaeseelandiae Tomoyasu Sato & Nakabo, 2002Paraulopus oblongus Paraulopus okamurai Tomoyasu Sato & Nakabo, 2002Fossil taxa include:Paraulopus? applanatus Nolf, 2004 Paraulopus? manei Nolf, 2004 Paraulopus? pseudocentrolophus Nolf, 2004 Paraulopus pseudoperca Nolf & Dockery, 1990 Paraulopus? wichitae Schwarzhans, Stringer & Welton, 2022