Characidae
Red Neon ( Paracheirodon axelrodi )
The Real tetras ( Characidae ) family with over 1000 species, the largest family of Characins and four tarte richest family of bony fish. The fish live in Texas, on Mexico to Central America and South America to central Argentina.
To the family includes many small species of freshwater ornamental fish, such as the neon tetra ( Paracheirodon ).
Features
True tetras have an elongated or hochrückige while laterally highly flattened shape. The caudal fin is always forked, sometimes the lower part is pulled out or the central rays are extended, the anal fin long, an adipose fin present in almost all species. The maxilla is edentulous or dentate, the premaxilla has one or two rows of teeth in the genera Brycon and Creagrutus there are three to four. The mandible has one or two rows, often mehrspitziger teeth. Shape and arrangement of the teeth are an important differentiator in the taxonomy.
Many real tetras are very colorful and have iridescent colored drawings. In the skin of these animals is available at an interspersed with colored chromatophores layer guanophores that reflect the least penetrating sunlight. It is believed that it is in the dark rainforest waters of species recognition and the cohesion of swarms.
Most tetras are small fish that are less than ten inches tall. The smallest species reached just 1.3 inches, the largest, Salminus brasiliensis, grows up to one meter long.
Way of life
True tetras live in a variety of habitats and ecological niches. They inhabit both the surface area and the water bottom. There are hidden in living plant species, inhabitants of the free water and cave dwellers. Most are schooling fish, but there are also a loner. The fish spawn mostly in pairs, according to an often consisting of parallel orbits swimming and courtship freely between plant populations, remain where hang the sticky eggs. Some species also spawn in caves or dig redds in the river bottom. In the subfamily Glandulocaudinae there are species with internal fertilization.
The diet of the Real tetras is very diverse. There are both Everything, plant and small animal -eaters, as well as pronounced predators. Among the Sägesalmlern there are also fruit and seed eaters, and the pennant Piranha ( Catoprion mento ), which feeds on the scales of other fish.
Outer systematics
The Real characins form with another four, until recently largely of genera and sub-families, which were formerly included among the rights tetras, newly formed families, and the Beilbauchsalmlern ( Gasteropelecidae ) an unnamed monophyletic clade American tetras. Sister group of these Kalde is the genus Chalceus, which was also made in the past to the rights tetras, but now is the only genus of the family Chalceidae. Sister group of the Chalceidae and the kinship circle about the rights tetras is a common clade of Schlanksalmlern ( Lebiasinidae ) and American Hechtsalmlern ( Ctenoluciidae ).
The probable kinship cladogram shows the following:
True tetras ( Characidae )
Triportheidae ( Triportheinae, Agoniatinae, Clupeacharacinae )
Bryconidae ( Bryconinae, Salmi Ninae )
Hatchetfishes ( Gasteropelecidae )
Iguanodectidae ( Iguanodectinae, Bryconops clade )
Acestrorhynchidae ( Acestrorhynchinae, Roestinae, Heterocharacinae )
Chalceidae
Schlanksalmler ( Lebiasinidae )
American Pike Characin ( Ctenoluciidae )
Inside systematics
The Real tetras are morphologically very conservative. It is therefore difficult to find a coherent internal systematics of the family. Here the system of the Argentine ichthyologists Marcos Mirande is partially followed, who compared 360 morphological features of 160 Salmlerarten each other and could next 16 subfamilies find some more monophyletic clades. A total of 25 species have but still to this day an unsafe position and incertae sedis be. Compared with each other as a result of further study, in which Oliveira and colleagues DNA sequences from two mitochondrial genes and three DNA sequences of genes from the nucleus, some subfamilies were spun off from the Characidae and four newly established or newly defined families ( Acestrorhynchidae, Bryconidae, Chalceidae, Iguanodectidae, Triportheidae ) slammed. A combined system of two works is also followed in the Catalog of Fishes of the California Academy of Sciences and reproduced here below:
- True tetras ( Characidae ) Jupiaba clade Jupiaba Zanata, 1997
- Bario Myers, 1940
- Deuterodon Eigenmann in Eigenmann, McAtee & Ward, 1907
- Ectrepopterus Fowler, 1943
- Hasemania Ellis, 1911
- Hemigrammus Gill, 1858
- Hyphessobrycon Durbin in Eigenmann, 1908
- Moenkhausia Eigenmann, 1903
- Myxiops Zanata & Akama 2004
- Neon tetras ( Paracheirodon Gery, 1960)
- Rummy ( Petitella Gery & Boutière, 1964)
- Probolodus Eigenmann, 1911
- Thayeria Eigenmann, 1908
- Astyanacinus Eigenmann, 1907
- Astyanax Baird & Girard, 1854
- Ctenobrycon Eigenmann, 1908
- Markiana Eigenmann, 1903
- Psellogrammus Eigenmann, 1908
- Bramocharax Gill at Gill & Bransford, 1877
- Oligosarcus Günther, 1864
- Hollandichthys Eigenmann, 1910
- Pseudochalceus Kner, 1863
- Atopomesus Myers, 1927
- Attonitus Vari & Ortega, 2000
- Aulixidens Bohlke, 1952
- Brittanichthys Gery, 1965
- Bryconella Gery, 1965
- Cyanogaster Mattox et al., 2013
- Dectobrycon Zarske & Gery 2006
- Erythrocharax net - Ferreira et al., 2013
- Genycharax Eigenmann, 1912
- Mixobrycon Eigenmann, 1915
- Nans Mirande, Aguilera & Azpelicueta, 2004
- Oligobrycon Eigenmann, 1915
- Parapristella Gery, 1964
- Sternflecksalmler ( Pristella Eigenmann, 1908)
- Psalidodon Eigenmann, 1911
- Rhinobrycon Myers, 1944
- Schultzites Gery, 1964
- Scissor Günther, 1864
- Serrabrycon Vari, 1986
- Stygichthys Brittan & Bohlke, 1965
- Thrissobrycon Bohlke, 1953
- Tucanoichthys Gery & Romans, 1997
Phylogeny
The probable kinship cladogram shows the following:
Clade A (corresponding subfamily Stevardiinae )
Clade B ( Aphyocharacinae, Characinae, Cheirodontinae, Tetragonopterinae )
Clade C ( Astyanax clade, Bramocharax clade, Gymnocharacinae, Hemigrammus clade, Jupiaba clade, Rhoadsiinae, Stethaprioninae )
Spintherobolus