Maxillicosta is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes, belonging to the subfamily Neosebastinae, the gurnard scorpionfishes, part of the family Scorpaenidae.

Maxillicosta was first described as a genus in 1935 by the Australian ichthyologist Gilbert Percy Whitley when he described M. scabriceps, with its type locality given as Kingscote on Kangaroo Island in South Australia,[2] as a monotypic genus but he also explicitly designated M scabriceps as its type species.

[3] There are currently six recognized species in this genus:[4] Maxillicosta gurnard perches are small scorpaenid fishes that possess an expanded rear surface of the maxillary and the outer surface of the dentary has a number of clear, horizontal ridges.

[5] The smallest species is Whitley's gurnard perch which has a maximum total length of 7 cm (2.8 in) while the largest is the little gurnard perch which has a maximum total length of 12 cm (4.7 in).

[4] Maxillicosta gurnard perches are found in the southwestern Pacific Ocean and southeastern Indian Ocean with one species, M. reticulata, found in the Desventuradas Islands and Juan Fernández Islands in the southeastern Pacific.