Characiformes

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Characiformes
Temporal range: Early Cretaceous–Recent [1]
Hyphessobrycon bentosi
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
(unranked):
Otophysi
Order: Characiformes
Regan, 1911
Type species
Charax gibbosus
Families

Characiformes /ˈkærəsɪfɔːrmiːz/ is an order of ray-finned fish, comprising the characins and their allies. Grouped in 18 recognized families, more than 2000 different species are described, including the well-known piranha and tetras.[1]

Taxonomy

The Characiformes form part of a series called the

Siluriformes, and Gymnotiformes.[1] The Characiformes form a group known as the Characiphysi with the Siluriformes and Gymnotiformes.[2] The order Characiformes is the sister group to the orders Siluriformes and Gymnotiformes, though this has been debated in light of recent molecular evidence.[1]

Originally, the characins were all grouped within a single family, the

Characoidei.[2]

Evolution

The oldest characiform is Santanichthys of the Early Cretaceous (Albian Age) of Brazil. All extant species live in fresh water, but this Cretaceous species probably lived in either brackish or marine water. Many other fossils are also known.[1] The Characiformes likely first diversified during the Cretaceous Period, though fossils are poorly known.[1] During the Cretaceous Period, the rift between South America and Africa would be forming; this may explain the contrast in diversity between the two continents. Their low diversity in Africa may explain why some primitive fish families and the Cypriniformes coexist with them whereas they are absent in South America, where these fish may have been driven extinct.[2] The characiforms had not spread into Africa soon enough to also reach the land connection between Africa and Asia.[2] The earliest they could have spread into Central America was the late Miocene.[2]

Phylogeny

Below is a phylogeny of living Characiformes based on Betancur-Rodriguez et al. 2017[4] and Nelson, Grande & Wilson 2016.[5]

Characiformes
Citharinoidei

Distichodontidae Günther 1864

Citharinidae Günther 1864

Characoidei
Crenuchoidea

Crenuchidae Günther 1864 sensu Froese & Pauly 2001

Alestioidea

Hepsetidae Hubbs 1939

Alestiidae Cockerell 1910

Erythrinoidea

Tarumaniidae
de Pinna et al. 2017

Erythrinidae Valenciennes 1847

Serrasalmidae Bleeker 1859

Cynodontidae Eigenmann 1903

Hemiodontidae Bleeker 1859

Parodontidae Eigenmann 1910

Prochilodontidae Eigenmann 1909

Chilodontidae
Eigenmann 1903

Curimatidae Gill 1858

Anostomidae Günther 1864 sensu Nelson 1994

Characoidea

Ctenoluciidae Schultz 1944

Lebiasinidae Gill 1889

Chalceidae Fowler 1958

Iguanodectidae Eigenmann 1909

Acestrorhynchidae
Eigenmann 1912

Triportheidae Fowler 1940

Bryconidae Eigenmann 1912

Gasteropelecidae Bleeker 1859

Characidae Latreille 1825 sensu Buckup 1998

Description

Characins possess a

carnivorous. The body is almost always covered in well-defined scales. The mouth is also usually not truly protractile.[6]

The largest characins are

Salminus franciscanus and Hoplias aimara,[7] both of which are up to 1.2 m (3.9 ft). The smallest in size is about 1.7 cm (0.67 in) in the Bolivian pygmy blue characin, Xenurobrycon polyancistrus.[8] Many members are under 3 cm (1.2 in).[1]

Distribution and habitat

Characins are most diverse in the

hepsetids. The rest of the characins originate from the Americas.[1]

Relationship to humans

A few characins become quite large, and are important as food or game.[1] Most, however, are small shoaling fish. Many species commonly called tetras are popular in aquaria[9] because of their bright colors, general hardiness, and tolerance towards other fish in community tanks.[1]

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 0-471-25031-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )    ; Buckup P.A.: "Relationships of the Characidiinae and phylogeny of characiform fishes (Teleostei: Ostariophysi)", Phylogeny and Classification of Neotropical Fishes, L.R. Malabarba, R.E. Reis, R.P. Vari, Z.M. Lucena, eds. (Porto Alegre: Edipucr) 1998:123-144.
  2. ^
    S2CID 84010604
    .
  3. ^ a b Claudio Oliveira, Gleisy S Avelino, Kelly T Abe, Tatiane C Mariguela, Ricardo C Benine, Guillermo Ortí, Richard P Vari and Ricardo M Corrêa e Castro,"Phylogenetic relationships within the speciose family Characidae (Teleostei: Ostariophysi: Characiformes) based on multilocus analysis and extensive ingroup sampling", BMC Evolutionary Biology 2011, 11:275).
  4. PMID 28683774
    .
  5. ISBN 9781118342336
    .
  6. ^ Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2014). "Characiformes" in FishBase. February 2014 version.
  7. ^ "Fishing Worldrecords-characins-salminus franciscanus".
  8. ISBN 0-12-547665-5
    .
  9. ^ Isbrücker, I. J. H.; Nijssen, H. (1988). "Review of the South American characiform fish genus Chilodus, with description of a new species, C. gracilis (Pisces, Characiformes, Chilodontidae)". Beaufortia. 38 (3): 47–56.
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