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Characidae

Article Discussion

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Characidae, the characids, is a family of freshwater subtropical and tropical fish belonging to the order Characiformes. They are found throughout much of Central and South America, including such major waterways as the Amazon and Orinoco Rivers.<ref name="nelson">Nelson (2006)</ref> These fish vary in length; many are less than Template:Convert.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The name "characins" is a historical one,<ref>Characinae, recently narrowly defined, covers only twelve genera and 79 species closely related to Charax (George M.T. Mattox, Monica Toledo-Piza, "Phylogenetic study of the Characinae (Teleostei: Characiformes: Characidae)" Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 165.4:809–915, August 2012).</ref> but scientists today tend to prefer "characids" to reflect their status as a, by and large, monophyletic group (at family rank). This family includes some of the first characiforms to be described to science, such as Charax and Tetragonopterus, and thus lend their name to the order, as well as to common names such as "characin" and "tetra".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Past taxonomic treatments had a much more expansive definition of the family, including numerous South American fish families such as the piranhas and dorados, as well as the African alestids. Following multiple taxonomic revisions, this was eventually restricted to just the American "tetra" type characins by the 2010s. However, even this definition of Characidae was found to obscure much of the evolutionary diversity within the group, and in 2024 the "tetra" families Acestrorhamphidae and Stevardiidae were split out of the Characidae, leaving it with just five subfamilies.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name=":13">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

ClassificationEdit

File:Aphyocharax anisitsi.jpg
Aphyocharax anisitsi (Aphyocharacinae)

TaxonomyEdit

The following classification is based on Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes (2025):<ref name=":13" /><ref name="CofFF">Template:Cof family</ref>

Family Characidae

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Former membersEdit

Template:Cladogram This family has undergone a large amount of systematic and taxonomic change. More recent revision has moved many former members of the family into their own related but distinct families – the pencilfishes of the genus Nannostomus are a typical example, having now been moved into the Lebiasinidae, the assorted predatory species belonging to Hoplias and Hoplerythrinus have now been moved into the Erythrinidae, and the sabre-toothed fishes of the genus Hydrolycus have been moved into the Cynodontidae. The former subfamily Alestiinae was promoted to family level (Alestiidae) and the subfamilies Crenuchinae and Characidiinae were moved to the family Crenuchidae.<ref name="nelson" />

Other fish families that were formerly classified as members of the Characidae, but which were moved into separate families of their own during recent taxonomic revisions (after 1994) include Acestrorhynchidae, Anostomidae, Chilodidae, Citharinidae, Ctenoluciidae, Curimatidae, Distichodontidae, Gasteropelecidae, Hemiodontidae, Hepsetidae, Parodontidae, Prochilodontidae,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Serrasalmidae, and Triportheidae.<ref name="biomedcentral.com">Oliveira, C., Avelino, G.S., Abe, K.T., Mariguela, T.C., Benine, R.C., Orti, G., Vari, R.P., & Correa e Castro, R.M. (2011): Phylogenetic relationships within the speciose family Characidae (Teleostei: Ostariophysi: Characiformes) based on multilocus analysis and extensive ingroup sampling. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 11: 275. doi: 10.1186/1471-2148-11-275</ref> In 2024, the families Stevardiidae and Acestrorhamphidae, containing a high proportion of the famous ornamental aquarium tetras, were also split out of the family, in addition to the small family Spintherobolidae.<ref name=":0" />

ReferencesEdit

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  • {{#invoke:Cite taxon|main|fishbase|genus=|species=|subspecies=}}
  • de Lucena, Carlos Alberto Santos (2003): New characid fish, Hyphessobrycon scutulatus, from the rio Teles Pires drainage, upper rio Tapajós system (Ostariophysi: Characiformes: Characidae). Neotropical Ichthyology 1(2): 93–96. PDF fulltext
  • Géry, Jacques (1977): Characoids of the World. Template:ISBN
  • Nelson, Joseph S. (2006): Fishes of the World. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Template:ISBN

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