Editing Characidae (section)

===Former members===
{{cladogram
|title=Phylogeny of Characidae from Melo et al. 2015<ref name="Melo et al.">Bruno F. Melo, Ricardo C. Benine, Gabriel S.C. Silva, Gleisy S. Avelino, Claudio Oliveira: ''Molecular phylogeny of the Neotropical fish genus Tetragonopterus (Teleostei: Characiformes: Characidae).'' Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, November 2015, [[doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2015.10.022]]</ref> with clade names from van der Laan 2017.<ref name="van der Laan">{{cite book| url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322153430 |pages=997 |title=Freshwater fish list |first=Richard |last=van der Laan |format=PDF | edition=23rd |issn=2468-9157  |date= December 2017}}</ref>
|{{clade|style=font-size:100%;line-height:80%;
|label1=Characidae
|1={{clade
  |1=''[[Spintherobolus]]'' clade (=[[Spintherobolidae]])
  |2={{clade
    |1=[[Stethaprioninae]] (=[[Acestrorhamphidae]])
    |2={{clade
      |1=[[Stevardiinae]] (=[[Stevardiidae]])
      |label2=[[Characinae]] (=[[Characidae]])
      |2={{clade
        |1={{clade
          |1=[[Aphyocharacini]]
          |2={{clade
            |1=[[Cheirodontini]]
            |2=[[Compsurini]]
             }}
           }}
        |2={{clade
          |1=[[Exodontini]]
          |2={{clade
            |1=[[Tetragonopterini]]
            |2=[[Characini]]
             }}
           }}
         }}
       }}
     }}
   }}
}}
|align=left}}
This family has undergone a large amount of systematic and [[Taxonomy (biology)|taxonomic]] change. More recent revision has moved many former members of the family into their own related but distinct families – the [[pencilfish]]es 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>{{Cite web |title=Characidae |url=http://shadowraven.net/aquarium/fresh/fish/characin/Characidae.htm |access-date=2019-02-01 |website=shadowraven.net}}</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): [http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1471-2148-11-275.pdf 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" />