Type species. Parapleisticantha japonica Yokoya, 1933, by monotypy.
Remarks. Yokoya (1933) established the genus for one new species, P. japonica Yokoya, 1933, from Japan; but it has generally been regarded as a junior synonym of Pleistacantha Miers, 1879 by most workers (e.g., see Takeda & Miyake 1969; Sakai 1976; Guinot & Richer de Forges 1982). Sakai (1986: 238; 1940: 55) suggested that the taxon was a valid subgenus, Pleistacantha (Parapleisticantha) but Ahyong et al. (2005: 2) preferred to treat it as a synonym of Pleistacantha s. str. until the genera could be reappraised. Richer de Forges et al. (2013: 65) re-examined Japanese material and resurrected Parapleisticantha as a valid genus with two species, P. japonica Yokoya, 1933, and P. ludivinae Richer de Forges, Ng & Ahyong, 2013, from the Philippines.