The following 27 species of goatfishes (Mullidae) of the Indo-Pacific genus Parupeneus are recognized: P. barberinoides (Bleeker) from the western Pacific east to the islands of Micronesia and Samoa; P. barberinus (Lacepède) from the Gulf of Aden and east coast of Africa to the Marquesas and Tuamotus (Upeneus filamentosus Macleay is a synonym); P. biaculeatus (Richardson) from the South China Sea to southern Indonesia (Upeneus taeniatus Kner, Parupeneus kneri Bleeker, and P. aurantius Fourmanoir are synonyms); P. chrysonemus (Jordan and Evermann), endemic to the Hawaiian Islands; P. chrysopleuron (Temminck and Schlegel) from Japan and Taiwan in the north and northwestern Australia to the Arafura Sea in the south (Mullus dubius Temminck and Schlegel is a synonym); P. ciliatus (Lacepède) from Zanzibar and other islands of the western Indian Ocean to the islands of French Polynesia and Pitcairn Island (Upeneus fraterculus Valenciennes, Mullus pleurotaenia Playfair, and Pseudupensus ischyrus Snyder are among the six synonyms); P. crassilabris (Valenciennes) from the western Pacific and northwestern Australia to the Caroline Islands and Tonga, formerly not distinguished from P. trifasciatus (Upeneus semifasciatus Macleay is a synonym); P. cyclostomus (Lacepède), wide-ranging throughout the Indo-Pacific (Mullus chryserydros Lacepède and Upeneus luteus Valenciennes are among the ten synonyms); P. diagonalis, new species, from Réunion and Mauritius, distinctive in the oblique dark stripe from the eye to the rear base of the second dorsal fin and a broad black band on the base of the second dorsal fin; P. forsskali Fourmanoir and Guézé, a replacement name for the endemic Red Sea-Gulf of Aden species first described as Mullus auriflamma by Forsskål, erroneously invalidated in the mistaken belief that it would replace the well known Parupeneus barberinus (Lacepède); P. heptacanthus (Lacepède) from the Red Sea and east coast of Africa to the Marshall Islands and Fiji (Upeneus cinnabarinus Cuvier, U. pleurospilos Bleeker, Parupeneus xanthopurpureus Fourmanoir, and Pseudupeneus seychellensis Smith and Smith are synonyms); P. indicus Shaw from the Gulf of Aden and east coast of Africa to the Caroline Islands and Samoa (Mullus russelii Cuvier, Upeneus waigiensis Cuvier, U. malabaricus Cuvier, and U. griseofrenatus Kner are synonyms); P. insularis Randall and Myers (recently distinguished from P. trifasciatus) from the Mariana Islands, Caroline Islands, Tuvalu, Cook Islands, and islands to the east of these archipelagos except Easter Island; P. jansenii Bleeker from islands of the East Indies; P. louise, new species, from 200-250 m in the Tuamotu Archipelago and Austral Islands, distinct in its long barbels, 39-40 rakers, and red barred color pattern; P. macronemus (Lacepède) from the Red Sea and east coast of Africa to western Indonesia and Christmas and Cocos-Keeling Islands; P. margaritatus Randall and Guézé from the Persian Gulf to the Sind coast of Pakistan; P. moffitti Randall and Myers, presently known from only three specimens from Guam taken in 120-230 m; P. multifasciatus (Quoy and Gaimard) from the Hawaiian Islands and Pitcairn Islands west to southern Indonesia, northwestern Australia, and Christmas and Cocos-Keeling Islands (Upeneus atrocingulatus Kner, U. velifer Smith and Swain, and Pseudupensus moana Jordan and Seale are synonyms); P. orientalis (Fowler), endemic to Easter Island; P. pleurostigma (Bennett), wide-ranging from the east coast of Africa to the Hawaiian Islands, and Pitcairn Islands but not recorded from many localities where it probably occurs (Upeneus brandesii Bleeker is the only synonym); P. porphyreus (Jenkins), a close relative of P. ciliatus found only in the Hawaiian Islands; P. posteli Fourmanoir and Guézé, presently known only from Réunion from depths of 90-250 m; P. procerigena Kim and Amaoka, described from the Saya de Malha Bank, western Indian Ocean from specimens trawled in 92-148 m (range here extended to the Seychelles and Natal); P. rubescens (Lacepède) from the Red Sea, Gulf of Oman, east coast of Africa, Seychelles, and Mascarene Islands (Mullus dispilurus Playfair, Upeneus natalensis Gilchrist and Thompson, and Parupeneus notospilus Klunzinger are synonyms); P. spilurus (Bleeker) from Japan south to Western Australia and New South Wales, east in the Southern Hemisphere to Tonga, Kermadec Islands, and northern New Zealand (Upeneus signatus Günther and Pseudupeneus jeffi Ogilby are probable synonyms); and P. trifasciatus (Lacepède) from the east coast of Africa and Oman to the Andaman Sea and Bali (Mullus bifasciatus Lacepède and Parupeneus andrewsii Regan are synonyms).