Paratherina is a genus of Sulawesi silversides, elongated freshwater rainbowfish relatives endemic to the ancient lake system of central Sulawesi, Indonesia — the only country recorded for the genus in the atlas. Like other Sulawesi endemics such as Telmatherina, Paratherina fish evolved in the clear, mineral-rich water of the Malili lakes, a setting quite different from the blackwater and floodplain habitats that produced most other rainbowfish. The atlas's four species are notably large for the rainbowfish group, with adults spanning roughly 4–8 in, and males typically develop elongated, sail-like extensions to the dorsal and anal fins used in display.
The sailfin silverside (Paratherina wolterecki) is the species most likely to be seen in specialist aquarium circles, kept for its striking finnage and lively shoaling behavior in a large, well-filtered tank with clear, hard, alkaline water echoing its native lakes. The rest of the genus is little traded and known mainly to Sulawesi-fish enthusiasts and researchers. Conservation status is a serious concern across the genus — the atlas records three Near Threatened species and one Critically Endangered — consistent with the broader decline of Sulawesi's Malili lakes under pressure from introduced predatory fish, mining runoff, and other habitat disturbance in one of the most biologically unique freshwater systems on Earth.