Acestrorhynchidae - (Smallscale pike characins)
Fishes of this family are characterized by very elongate (pike-like) bodies covered with relatively small scales. All teeth are conical and strong canines are present on the premaxilla, anterior part of the maxilla and the dentary. Small conical teeth are present on the ectopterygoid and minute conical teeth have been detected on the mesopterygoid of some species. Other exclusive features of the group are: first infraorbital covering almost completely the maxilla whent the mouth is closed; a branch of the laterosensory canal on the premaxilla; and rhinosphenoid bone in close contact with parasphenoid. The anal fin is falcate, never bearing hooks in sexually mature males and the origin of the dorsal fin is much nearer to caudal base than the tip of the snout. See Menezes (1969), Menezes (1992), Menezes & Géry (1983), Toledo-Piza & Menezes (1996) and Lucena & Menezes (1998). The single genus Acestrorhynchus is currently represented by 15 species ranging from about 35 to 400 mm in standard length. Acestrorhynchid species are entirely confined to South America and the greatest species diversity occurs in the Amazon and Orinoco basins. Three species occur further south in the São Francisco, Paraná, Paraguay and La Plata drainages. They are found in a variety of habitats, but primarily live in lakes, lagoons, areas near shore, and the smallest species are especially found in small streams (igarapés) of the Amazon basin (personal observation and see also Britski et al., 1986). The peculiar dentition makes acestrorhynchid species very specialized predators among characiforms, most species feeding primarily on fishes. See Menezes, 1969a, Nico & Taphorn, 1985 and Amaral, 1990. After the major revision of Acestrorhynchus and the description of some new species (Menezes & Gery, 1983; Toledo-Piza & Menezes, 1996) not many new species are expected to be found. Acestrorhynchids are not commercially important as food fishes and two of the smallest species (A. nasutus and A. minimus) might be eventually found in aquarium shops. Suggested new common name for this family from Ref. 58418.
Africa. Following Eschmeyer 1998 (Ref. 26282) this family includes all African tetras, formerly a subfamily of Characidae. Maximum length of about 1.4 m attained by Hydrocynus goliath of the Congo. Formerly spelled Alestiidae.
Distribution: South America. Morphology: Mandible relatively short; upper and lower pharyngeal dentition enlarged; two or more cups on all pharyngeal teeth; single tooth row on each jaw. Many species swim in an oblique head-down position. Maximum size 40 cm SL. Most species are herbivores or detrivores. CLOFFSCA: Family of large characiform fishes with maximum size to 80 cm SL. Mouth terminal or subinferior. Circumorbital bone series complete and with a supraorbital bone. Mandible relatively short; with a single tooth row on each of 3 or 4 teeth on each premaxillary and mandibular ramus, disposed as steps of a stair. Upper and lower pharyngeal dentition enlarged, with two or more cups on all pharyngeal teeth. Maxillary bone small and excluded from the mouth opening. Mouth small and very distant from the anterior orbital rim. Branchial opening small, membranes firmly joined to isthmus. Midlateral line complete and with 33 to 44 perforated scales. Adipose-fin always present; dorsal-fin I, 11 rays; anal-fin I,9 rays; pelvic-fin, I,8-9 rays;. Many species swim in an oblique head-down position. Most species are herbivores or detritivores. Species occurring in almost all South America, except east Andes.
Bryconidae - ("Brycon characins")
Characidae - (Characins; tetras)
Distribution: Southwestern United States to northern Patagonia in Argentina Morphology: a large and diversified family. Adipose fin may be present or lacking. Genera Astyanax and Deuterodon with few species having an anteriorly directed spine-like process, protruding externally from the pelvic bone. Some are large species; many are under 3 cm with the smallest reaching a maximum size of about 13 mm. A comprehensive phylogenetic study is needed. The potentially dangerous Amazon piranhas (Serrasalmus and Pygocentrus) belong to this group as well as the South American tetras, and a blind cave fish from Mexico (Astyanax mexicanus). The African tetras are recognized in the separate family Alestiidae, following Eschmeyer 1998 (Ref. 26282). Glandulocaudinae: Fishes of the subfamily Glandulocaudinae have the following characteristics: In sexually mature males glandulocaudines bear a basal caudal-fin organ that is apparently pheromone in nature. This organ may consist of modified caudal-fin rays; modified caudal-fin scales, a derived hypural fan, and/or modified caudal-fin musculature. In species of some tribes and genera two to all of these derived features may be present. In males almost always some kind of derived glandular cells are present in association with large derived caudal-fin scales and/or modified fin rays. All species are inseminating in that the female is inseminated by the male and retains live sperm cells in her ovary, sometimes at least for many months. No fertilization of the oocytes takes place in the ovaries and presumably fertilization takes place when the eggs and sperm cells are shed at the same time. All species have elongate sperm cell bodies (nuclei) and, at least for the many species and genera for which current information is available, have sperm cells with an elongate cytoplasmic collar binding the flagellum to the elongate nucleus at least at some stage of spermiogenesis. There is one other inseminating group of characids, the tribe Compsurini of the subfamily Cheirodontinae has inseminating species and also often complex caudal organs in the male. These caudal organs are structured differently than those found in the Glandulocaudinae and the histology and fine structure of the sperm cells of the Compsurini are not structured the same way as in the glandulocaudines. Furthermore there is evidence that the Compsurini forms a derived clade within the Cheirodontinae. See Burns et al. (1995), Burns et al. (1997), Burns, et al. (1998), Burns et al. (2000), Malabarba (1998), Menezes & Weitzman (1990), Weitzman & Fink (1985), Weitzman et al. (1994), and Weitzman & Menezes (1998). The Glandulocaudinae is a morphologically diverse characid group consisting of 19 genera divided among seven tribes, each derived in a different way. The number of valid species currently recognized is 50. Most glandulocaudine fishes are relatively small, between about 30 and 60 millimeters in standard length, but some are considerably smaller, between about 11 and 30 millimeters in standard length when mature. See Weitzman & Fink (1985), Weitzman et al. (1994), and Weitzman & Menezes (1998). Glandulocaudine species are found almost throughout Central and South America, from Costa Rica in the north, southward to northern Argentina in the south. They are found in every country, including Trinidad, except Chile. The ecology and life history of glandulocaudines is complex, but so far little studied. Many occur in small to modest sized streams tributary to larger rivers such as the Amazon, Orinoco and Paraguay Rivers. Nearly all glandulocaudines are tropical in distribution with a few being subtropical and are known from coastal streams of Central and South America tributary to the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and the Caribbean Sea. A few species are known from elevations as high as about 500 to 600 meters, but most occur at elevations considerably below that, down to sea level. Some species are confined to acid black rainforest waters with an acidic pH, others are found in neutral to somewhat alkaline waters that are clear or seasonally turbid due to sediment load. A few species are adapted to both kinds of waters. No species are known from brackish waters of coastal lagoons or river mouths under the influence of tides. The courtship behaviors of those species and genera that have been studied in detail using scientific procedures have been described as having complicated courtship procedures preceeding insemination. Aquarists have published many articles about the behavior of glandulocaudines maintained in aquaria during the last 90 years. These articles describe in varying detail the complex courtship activities of many glandulocaudine species and genera. This literature was last evaluated by Nelson (1964). Personal observations and see also Azevedo et al. (2000), Nelson (1964a, b, & c), Weitzman & Fink (1985), Weitzman (1987), Weitzman et al. (1994). Although 50 species are currently recognized, there are many undescribed species represented by population samples in museums that await descriptions. Each of the seven tribes appears monophyletic although additional studies are needed to confirm this for a few of these tribes. On the other hand the validity of the monophyly of the subfamily needs much further investigation. A few outgroup inseminating characids lack a caudal organ, but have some of the other glandulocaudine synapomorphies that were reported recently by Weitzman & Menezes (1998). It may well be that at least some of the glandulocaudine tribes are independently derived from plesiomorphic extinct relatives of these outgroup characids such as the species of Brittanichthys, some species of Knodus and Attonitus. See Burns et al. (2000). Members of this subfamily form food for larger fishes that are important for both commercial and subsistence reasons in the rivers of Central and South America. Several species are moderately important for the aquarium trade and are exported especially from Brazil and Venezuela. The Iguanodectinae is a small characid subfamily composed of 11 valid species in 2 genera, Iguanodectes Cope and Piabucus Oken. The subfamily is characterized by elongated fishes, with contracted base multicuspidated teeth, gill-membranes united and free from the isthmus, posterior end of the maxilla anterior to the eye, dorsal-fin origin posterior to the middle of the body (at middle of the body in Iguanodectes geisleri), and anal fin long (except for I. geisleri). Moreover, some characters of the internal morphology are also diagnostic, such as, the presence of a process on the internal face of the dentary, the first proximal anal-fin pterygiophore expanded and backward recurved (except in I. geisleri), and the anterior portion of the posterior chamber of the swimbladder thinner than its posterior portion. The genus Piabucus distinguishes from Iguanodectes by the presence of a long pectoral fin, and a well-developed pectoral keel. The subfamily is distributed in the Amazon (including its main tributaries), Orinoco, Paraguay, and Tocantins river basins, as well as the costal drainages from the Golfo de Pária (Venezuela) to immediately south of the mouth of the Amazon river (including rio Capim basin). The group is relatively well studied taxonomically (Böhlke,1954; Géry, 1970 and 1993; Vari, 1977), although some species remain to be described. Despite of some characters proposed as supporting the monophyly of the Iguanodectinae (Vari, 1977), the phylogenetic relationships of the Iguanodectinae with other groups of the Characiformes are still very tentative (Lucena, 1993), and none is known about the phylogenetic relationships between its species. Iguanodectes species are probably primarily herbivorous, feeding occasionally on allocthonous insects (Knöppel, 1970; Goulding et al. 1988; pers. obs.). Besides that, little information is known from their ecology. Some of its species are used as ornamental fishes. Note that Characidiinae, and Crenuchus and Poecilocharax are gathered in Crenuchidae, the two latter as the subfamily Crenuchinae since Buckup (1998: Ref. 040622) and in Buckup (2003: Ref. 37059). The description above
Chilodontidae - (Headstanders)
The single series of relatively small teeth movably attached to the lips of the upper jaw and in most species to the lower jaw together with a sixth lateral-line scale distinctly smaller than the other scales in that series serve to separate the Chilodontidae from other members of the Characiformes. The Chilodontidae is also distinguished within the Characiformes by a series of derived features in a number of body systems discussed by Vari (1983) and Vari et al. (1995). Chilodus was revised by Isbrücker and Nijssen (1988) and Vari and Ortega (1997) and Caenotropus by Vari et al. (1995). Phylogenetic relationships within Caenotropus and the phylogenetic biogeography of the Chilodontidae were discussed by Vari et al. (1995). The species of this family are broadly distributed east of the Andean Cordilleras in both the Río Orinoco and rio Amazonas basins, the series of independent rivers draining the Atlantic slope of the Guianas, and the rio Paraíba basin of northeastern Brazil. Chilodontids have been collected in a diversity of water types. Some species (e.g., Caenotropus mestomormatus, C. maculosus) apparently live solely in black waters (Vari et al., 1995: 16. fig. 11; Vari and Ortega, 1997: 76) whereas others (Chilodus frittilus, Vari and Ortega, 1997:76) occur in black, white, and clear waters. Caenotropus labyrinthicus feeds on autochothonus invertebrates, detritus, and freshwater sponges and reproduces in May (Goulding et al., 1988:141, 146, 148; Vari et al., 1995: 23; Ferreira et al., 1988:344). Recent reviews of components of the Chilodontidae by Isbrücker and Nijssen (1988), Vari et al. (1995), and Vari and Ortega (1997) each described one new species, for a total of seven in the family, but it is not expected that many more species await discovery. Species of Chilodus are exported from various locations for the aquarium trade in which they are known as headstanders. Common name for this family encoded from Ref. 58010.
Distribution: Africa. Deep body shape; dorsal and anal fins relativeli long; maxilla reduced and lacking teeth; scales cycloid in Citharinus); pelvic fin rays relatively numerous. Suggested new common name for this family from Ref. 58418. The subfamily Distichodontinae was raised at the family level in Nelson between 1994 (Ref. 7463) to 2006 (Ref. 58010) editions.
Crenuchidae - (South American darters)
Eastern Panama and South America. Paired foramina in the frontal bones, posterodorsally to the orbits (pronouced in Crenuchinae but very small. Usually under 10 cm SL. 2 subfamilies, formerly under Characidae: - Crenuchinae (2g., 3 spp.). - Characidiinae (10g., 71 spp.).
Ctenoluciidae - (Pike-characids)
The attenuate body, elongate jaws bearing numerous relatively small teeth with posteriorly recurved teeth arranged in a single row in each jaw, and the posteriorly positioned dorsal and anal fins are features which in combination serve to unequivocally separate the Ctenoluciidae from other members of the Characiformes. The Ctenoluciidae is also distinguished within the Characiformes by a series of derived features discussed by Vari (1995). Members of the family range from moderate sized species (e.g., Ctenolucius hujeta; largest examined specimen 22.8 cm SL) to among the largest of New World characiforms (Boulengerella cuvieri; largest examined specimen 67.5 cm SL). The taxonomy, morphology, phylogenetics, and biogeography of the family were discussed by Vari (1995). Ctenoluciids are distributed though the lowlands and lower elevation uplands to both sides of the Andean Cordilleras. Ctenolucius ranges from the Pacific Ocean slope rivers of western Panama, though the river systems of northwestern and northern Colombia, to the eastern tributaries of the Lago Maracaibo basin in northwestern Venezuela. Boulengerella is widely distributed in the Río Orinoco, Rio Amazonas, and Rio Tocantins basins and the shorter coastal rivers of Guyana, French Guiana (Guyane), and the Brazilian states of Amapá and Pará. According to Breder (1925:144), Miles (1941:65) and Dahl (1971:106) Ctenolucius species are predators in calm waters with immature specimens gathering together in schools and adults being solitary hunters. Boulengerella species are all predators, apparently feeding exclusively on fishes as adults (Goulding et al., 1988: 135, 139, 140, 144, 173). Breeding behavior of B. cuvieri was discussed by Mendes dos Santos et al. (1984:24) and Vazzoler and Menezes (1992:632) discussed sexual maturation and breeding season of that species. The recent study of the family by Vari (1995) revealed only one species new to science and it is not expected that many more species await discovery. Members of the Ctenoluciidae are important as high-level predators (Smith, 1981:22) and are exploited in both subsistence and commercial food fishes (Mendes dos Santos et al., 1984) and for export in the aquarium fish trade (Castro, 1986:3).
Curimatidae - (Toothless characins)
Distribution: Southern Central America and South America. Large sac-like muscular epibranchial organ that extends dorsal to the medial elements of the dorsal portions of the gill arches; reduction or loss of dentition on the fifth upper pharyngeal tooth plate and loss on the ceratobranchial. Generally detritivorous. Maximum length 45 cm. Suggested new common name for this family from Ref. 58418. CLOFFSCA Distinguished from all other Characiformes by the combination of the total absence in adults of dentition in either jaw (a feature present elsewhere among characiforms only in Anodus of the family Hemiodontidae) and a series of internal synapomorphies in multiple body systems (see Vari (1989: 52) for a summary). The species of the Curimatidae are broadly distributed across southern Central America and much of tropical and subtemperate South America. Members of the family occur in the Trans-Andean Pacific Ocean drainages from southwestern Costa Rica (Bussing, 1988: 127) to northwestern Peru (Vari, 1989: 17). Curimatids inhabit the Trans-Andean Carribean versant drainages from the Atrato River of northwestern Colombia (Vari, 1991:38) to the western drainages of the Lago Maracaibo basin in northwestern Venezuela (Vari, 1984: 25). East of the Andean Cordilleras, curimatids occupy most river basins from the Río Orinoco system to slightly south of Buenos Aires, Argentina, being most speciose in the Amazon and Orinoco basins, with less diverse assemblages of species inhabiting the coastal rivers of the Guianas, the rio Sno Francisco basin, and various of the shorter rivers from northeastern Brazil to Uruguay (Vari, 1989). Externally the fishes of this family range from fusiform to deep bodied, slab-sided fishes (Vari, 1989: figs. 1-2), but with most species of intermediate body form. Internally these fishes demonstrate numerous modifications of various body systems, most notably the gill arches (Vari, 1989). Members of the family demonstrate a nearly ten fold range in standard lengths, with the largest know adult males of Curimatopsis evelynae achieving approximately 3.3 cm SL (Vari, 1982:26) and the largest reported specimens of Curimata mivartii being over 32.0 cm SL (Dahl, 1971: 105). Many species travel in large schools (Mendez dos Santos, 1984: 28-29) that often constitute a major portion of the fish biomass in both riverine and lacustrine habitats. They have a number of modifications of the mouth, gill-arches, and digestive tract which allow them to efficiently utilize the flocculent organic mater, microdetritus, microvegetation, and filamentous algae that are common in those habitats across the Neotropics (Carvalho, 1984: Nomura and Hayashi, 1980; Nomura and Taveira, 1979). Some members of the family are known to engage in mass spawning migrations (Godoy, 1975: 581). The questions of the relationships of the Curimatidae to other characiforms and of the generic-level intrarelationships within the family were dealt with by Vari (1983, 1989). The species level taxonomy, phylogeny, and biogeography of the Curimatidae has been examined in a series of revisionary studies (Curimata (Vari, 1989; Vari and Reis, 1995); Curimatella (Vari, 1992); Curimatopsis (Vari, 1982, 1982); Cyphocharax (Vari, 1992; Vari and Blackledge, 1996) Potamorhina (Vari, 1984); Psectrogaster (Vari, 1989); Pseudocurimata (Vari, 1989); and Steindachnerina (Vari, 1991, 1993; Vari and Williams Vari, 1989). These publications placed a number of species into synonymy, but also resulted in the description of numerous species new to science. Several as of yet undescribed species are known to researchers and it is expected that additional species await discovery. In the course of their annual mass migrations various species of this family are exploited in commercial and subsistence fisheries from Colombia (Dahl, 1971: 105) through Venezuela (Mago-Leccia, 1970: 31) into the Amazon (Goulding, 1981:60) and elsewhere in South America (Lowe-McConnell, 1975). These fishes are also important as food items for large, commercially important, predatory fish species.
Cynodontidae - (Dogtooth characins)
Fishes of the family Cynodontidae comprise a group of very distinctive Neotropical characiforms easily recognizable by their oblique mouth, well developed dentary canines, and relatively expanded pectoral fins. The group is not very diverse with 13 species currently recognized and grouped under two subfamilies: the Cynodontinae and the Roestinae (Lucena & Menezes, 1998). The Cynodontinae is represented by the largest members of the family with some of its species reaching up to 65 cm in length and possessing maximum development of dentary canines among cynodontids. The subfamily has been the subject of recent taxonomic and phylogenetic investigation by Toledo-Piza, (2000) and Toledo-Piza et al. (1999) with three genera being recognized: Cynodon with 3 species, hypothesized as the sister group to the monotypic Rhaphiodon, and this clade being the sister group to Hydrolycus with 4 species. The Roestinae includes species that reach a maximum length of 20 cm and are represented by Roestes with 3 species and Gilbertolus with two (Menezes & Lucena, 1998). The majority of cynodontid species occur in the Rio Amazonas and Río Orinoco basins, and in the rivers of the Atlantic slopes of the Guianas. Rhaphiodon vulpinus is the only Cynodontidae that ranges southward to the Paraná-Paraguay and Uruguay basins, and Gilbertolus occurs in the transandean drainages of the Río Atrato, Río Magdalena, and Lago Maracaibo basins of Colombia and Venezuela. Fossil cynodontids are represented by dentary canines originated in Miocene deposits from the La Venta fauna, located in the present Río Magdalena valley of Western Colombia, in the Anta Formation at Quebrada de la Yesera, Salta, and near the city of Paraná, Entre Ríos the latter two localities in Argentina (Lundberg, 1997; Cione & Casciotta, 1995, 1997). Most of what is known about the habits and biology of the Cynodontidae refers to members of the Cynodontinae. They live in mid- and surface waters of rivers, lakes, and flooded forests in all water types, are predatory fishes, mainly piscivorous, using their dentary canines to stab prey (Arendt 1997; Goulding, 1980). Although not much valued as food, some species may have some importance in subsistence commercial fisheries (Mendes dos Santos et al., 1984; and Taphorn, 1992). Hydrolycus is a sport species having been recently added to the International Game Fish Association in the fly and rod class (International Game Fish Association, 1995). The ecology of roestine species is poorly known. They are also much less common in museum collections when compared to cynodontines. Suggested new common name for this family from Ref. 58418.
Distichodontidae - (Distichodus)
Distribution: Africa. Two different groups: one includes micropredators and herbivorous species with non-protractile jaws and variable body shape occuring from shallow to deep waters. the other one (sometimes referred to as Ichthyboridae) includes carnivorous species (on fins or entire fishes) with movable upper jaw and elongated body shapespecies. The subfamily Distichodontinae in FoW1994 (Nelson, 1994: Ref. 7463) was raised to the family level in FoW2006 (Nelson, 2006: Ref. 58010).
Species of this family occurs in South America. Body cylindrical. Gape reaching beyond anterior margin of orbit. Branchiostegal rays 5. Pectoral fin rays 9-14. Dorsal fin rays 8-15 and 3 vestigial rays. Dorsal fin origin anterior to anal fin and usually above pelvic fins. Anal fin rays 10-12. No adipose fin. Rounded caudal fin. Relatively large scales. Lateral line with 32-47 scales. Palatine teeth numerous. Some predaceous. Some capable of air-breathing and moving to other ponds by land. Nest-builders. About 1 m maximum length attained in Hoplias macrophthalmus of the Guianas.
Gasteropelecidae - (Freshwater hatchetfishes)
Fishes of the family Gasteropelecidae have the following characteristics: Frontal bone longitudinally corrugated, bearing a strong longitudinal ridge. Posttemporal and supracleithrum are fused into a single bone. The pelvic fins and associated bones are minute. They have an enlarged, strongly convex muscular pectoral girdle region, consisting of greatly expanded coracoids fused to a single fan-shaped and corrugated median bone. Their lateral line extends ventroposteriorly to approach the anterior termination of the anal fin, or they have 0 to 2 or 3 scales behind head and one or a very few scales on tail-fin base. Dorsal fin has 10 to 17 rays. Anal fin has 22 to 44 rays. An adipose fin is present in the larger species, but absent in the smaller species. All are capable of jumping relatively long or high distances by use of their modified, elongate pectoral fin rays and heavily-muscled, enlarged pectoral girdle. See Wiest, 1995 and Weitzman and Palmer, 1996 for discussions of their jumping abilities. Freshwater hatchetfish are found in Panama and all countries of South America except Chile. The family consists of three genera and nine species, ranging in standard length from 21.5 - 68 mm. Central America contains only one species, Gasteropelecus maculatus. South America contains species in three genera: Carnegiella, Gasteropelecus, and Thoracocharax. The species of the genera Gasteropelecus and Thoracocharax occur in open waters of larger rivers and streams and lakes, whereas species of Carnegiella occur in small creeks and streams (personal observations). Morphology and function of some of the smaller members of this family have been well studied (Weitzman, 1954 and Wiest, 1995), but the larger species, especially in Thoracocharax, have not been subject to such investigations. Most species probably have been described; however species problems associated with comparisons of population samples from different localities may reveal some new species. Members of this family are commercially collected for the aquarium trade.
Members of the family Hemiodontidae are distributed in South America. Mouth inferior in varying degrees. Lower jaw small and toothless in most species. Suggested new common name for this family from Ref. 58418.
Distribution: tropical Africa. Body elongate and pikelike. Snout long. Mouth large. Teeth as few large canines and smaller pointed ones. Dorsal fin rays 9. Anal fin with 11 rays, inserted behind dorsal fin. Scales cycloid; 49-60 along lateral line. Attains 30 cm maximum length. Eggs nested in floating foam. Considered a gamefish. Suggested new common name for this family from Ref. 58418.
Iguanodectidae - ("Lizard bite tetras")
Family resurrected from one phylogentic study (Oliveira et al. 2011: Ref. 90101 ). Proper morphological diagnosis, description and account not yet published. Family common name proposed only here from the scientific name although the allusion was not expolained nor evient (see ETYFish).
There is no recent review of this family. There are 56 described species in two subfamilies and six genera, with several species yet to be described. In size they range from miniatures, Nannostomus anduzei and Pyrrhulina vittata, to medium sizes to 150 mm SL in the Lebiasininae. All species have a rather elongate, cylindrical body shape with fairly large scales, 18 to 35 in a longitudinal series. The laterosensory canal system on the body is reduced, to seven scales, or absent. An adipose fin may be present or absent. The anal fin is short-based with up to 13 rays and the males of most species have well developed anal fins specialized for courtship and breeding. The frontal/parietal fontanel is always absent, the cheek is well covered by the orbital and opercular bones, there is no supraoccipital crest and the scales of the dorsal body begin over the parietal bones. In his study of the phylogenetic relationships of the family Ctenoluciidae, Vari (1995: 35-36) included comments on the monophyly of the Lebiasinidae and listed three characters taken from Weitzman (1964) that he considered to be synapomorphies for the family: 1) absence of the supraorbital bone, 2) lack of a metapterygoid-quadrate fenestra, and 3) reduction of the laterosensory canal system on the body. Members of this family are found in Central America in Costa Rica and Panama and in all countries of South America except Chile. Most species are found in quiet clear or black water streams from sea level to about 250 meters elevation, always in fresh water. Some species of the Lebiasininae occur in much higher elevations, to over 1000 meters. Many of the species in the Pyrrhulininae, especially the pencilfishes, Nannnostomus, are important aquarium fishes. Suggested new common name for this family from Ref. 58418.
Distribution: throughout South America and part of Panama, except in some coastal basins, Patagonia and the Amazon channel. Fusiform bodies, no fontanel and inferior mouth with a poorly developed, or absent, upper lip. There are commonly four (rarely two) spatulate premaxillary teeth, which have a straight or cusped cutting border. Some species with dentary and maxillary teeth. Gill members are joined and free of scally isthmus. Mostly do not exceed 15 cm in length and are usually of no commercial importance. Suggested new common name for this family from Ref. 58418.
Prochilodontidae - (Flannel-mouth characiforms)
Members of the family Prochilodontidae can be readily distinguished from other fishes, except when larvae, by their fleshy lips equipped with two series of numerous, relatively small, falciform or spatulate teeth movably attached to the lips. Upon protraction these lips form an oral disk encircled by teeth. The two tooth rows in each jaw are variably separated from each other proximate to the symphysis, but converge towards the lateral margins of each jaw. The members of this family are moderate to large sized, robust fishes (reaching up to 74 cm TL in Prochilodus lineatus, Sverlij et al., 1993:36) with relatively large scales, fleshy to very fleshy lips (particularly in Ichthyoelephas), and pronounced stripes across the anal and caudal fins in Semaprochilodus species, other than for very large individuals. The dorsal fin is preceded by a procumbent spine which is either bifurcate (Prochilodus and Semaprochilodus) or pointed (Ichthyoelephas) anteriorly. Although the three genera are readily distinguished externally, the external morphology of most species in each genus is relatively constant and many species can be difficult to tell apart. The species of this family are limited to South America and occur to the west of the Andes in the Lago Maracaibo basin of Colombia and Venezuela, the Carribean versant rivers of northwestern Colombia and the Pacific slope rivers of northwestern and southwestern Ecuador. East of the Andes, prochilodontids occur in the Río Orinoco, Rio Amazon, Rio Tocantins, and Río de La Plata basins, the coastal rivers of the Guianas, the Rio São Francisco and the other coastal rivers of eastern Brazil, and the northern portions of the Lagoa dos Patos basin of southern Brazil. They inhabit a diversity of habitats ranging from still ox-bow lakes, through flowing major rivers, to moderately rapid streams in piedmont regions and occur in black, clear, and white water. All species of this family exploit detritus and aufwucks (periphyton) on subaquatic surfaces (Araújo-Lima et al., 1986; Bowen, 1984; Bowen et al., 1984). The prevalence of these resources both in permanent fresh waters (Flecker, 1996:1845) and the seasonally flooded rain forest (Goulding et al., 1988:61-62, fig. 6.1) most probably accounts for the prominence of these species in Neotropical freshwaters (e.g., lower Río Parana basin where Prochilodus lineatus accounts for over 60% of total ichthyomass; Bonetto, 1975, 1994). As a consequence of their detritus feeding habits and large populations, these species play a significant role in energy flow within the aquatic systems which they inhabit (Jepsen et al., 1997:1085; Winemiller, 1996:303) and are functionally dominant in some aquatic ecosystems (Flecker, 1996:1850). Species of the Prochilodontidae undertake dramatic mass migrations associated with feeding and reproduction (Goulding, 1981:100-104; Ribeiro and Petrere, 1990:200), with some individuals traveling minimally nearly 1500 km between their mark and recapture (Sverlij et al., 1993:28) with daily movements of up to 43 km (de Godoy, 1975:43). These species are famous for their ability to overcome obstacles encountered during migrations by strenuous swimming and dramatic leaps of several meters (Goulding, 1981:103; Patiño R, 1973:81). The species-level taxonomy of the Prochilodontidae has long been pervaded by uncertainty (Mago-Leccia, 1972:35) as a consequence of various factors intrinsic (overall similarity of different species) and extrinsic (e.g., uninformative original descriptions and loss of type series) to the species. Mago-Leccia (1972) reviewed the prochilodontid species that occur in Venezuela. Subsequently, Castro (1988, 1993) described two previously undescribed species. The taxonomy of all species of the Prochilodontidae was evaluated in an unpublished thesis (Castro, 1990) and in a ongoing revisionary and phylogenetic analysis (Castro and Vari, in prep.). The entries for the species in the following account are derived from the information in those two studies. Based on our results we expect that future research is unlikely to reveal many additional undescribed species in the family. Members of the all genera of the Prochilodontidae are very important in both commercial and subsistence fishes across the range of the family. In the lower Rio Negro of Brazil, over 90 percent of the commercial catch consists of two Semaprochilodus species (Goulding et al., 1988:61) and prochilodontids are becoming progressively more important in the commercial fishes of the central portion of the Amazon basin (Ribeiro and Petrere, 1990:196). Sverlij et al. (1993:51) report that Prochilodus lineatus constitutes 40% of the total fishery in the Río Paraná, 86% of the fishery in the Río de La Plata, and 95% of the fishery in the Río Uruguay. Other prochilodontid species are similarly important in the commercial and subsistence fisheries of Colombia (Dahl, 1971:xvi, Sánchez, M. et al., 2000:218), Venezuela (Espinosa and Gimenez, 1974:1: Novoa R. et al., 1982:277), and other countries (Welcomme, 1979:200). The importance of the Prochilodontidae in commercial and subsistence fisheries across the range of the family is also reflected in the numerous studies involving the induced spawning and captive rearing of members of the family (e.g., Antoniutti et al., 1995; Bustamente-Varón et al, 1997; and references therein). Common name for this family encoded from Ref. 58010.
Serrasalmidae - (Piranhas and pacus)
Triportheidae - (Hatchet characins)
Family resurrected from one phylogentic study (Oliveira et al. 2011: Ref. 90101 ). Proper morphological diagnosis, description and account not yet published.
Note: Families with unknown counts of dorsal or anal spines are also included