Editing Characidae

{{Short description|Family of fishes}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = 
| image = Lambari-transparente (Charax stenopterus).jpg
| image_caption = ''[[Charax stenopterus]]''
| taxon = Characidae
| authority = [[Pierre-André Latreille|Latreille]], 1825
| subdivision_ranks = Subfamilies
| subdivision_ref = 
| subdivision = [[Aphyocharacinae]]<br />
[[Characinae]]<br />
[[Cheirodontinae]]<br />
[[Exodontinae]] <br />
[[Tetragonopterinae]]<br />
}}

'''Characidae''', the '''characids''', is a [[Family (biology)|family]] of [[Fresh water|freshwater]] [[subtropical]] and [[tropical]] [[fish]] belonging to the [[Order (biology)|order]] [[Characiformes]]. They are found throughout much of [[Central America|Central]] and [[South America]], including such major waterways as the [[Amazon River|Amazon]] and [[Orinoco]] Rivers.<ref name="nelson">Nelson (2006)</ref> These fish vary in length; many are less than {{convert|3|cm|in|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hyphessobrycon roseus (GÉRY, 1960) Yellow Phantom Tetra |url=http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/hyphessobrycon-roseus/ |access-date=12 December 2017 |website=Seriously Fish}}</ref>

The name "[[Characin|characins]]" is a historical one,<ref>Characinae, recently narrowly defined, covers only twelve genera and 79 species closely related to ''[[Charax (fish)|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 (fish)|Charax]]'' and ''[[Tetragonopterus]]'', and thus lend their name to the order, as well as to common names such as "characin" and "[[tetra]]".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tetra {{!}} Freshwater, Care & Breeding {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/animal/tetra |access-date=2025-05-12 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>

Past taxonomic treatments had a much more expansive definition of the family, including numerous South American fish families such as the [[Piranha|piranhas]] and [[Bryconidae|dorados]], as well as the African [[Alestidae|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">{{Cite journal |last=Melo |first=Bruno F |last2=Ota |first2=Rafaela P |last3=Benine |first3=Ricardo C |last4=Carvalho |first4=Fernando R |last5=Lima |first5=Flavio C T |last6=Mattox |first6=George M T |last7=Souza |first7=Camila S |last8=Faria |first8=Tiago C |last9=Reia |first9=Lais |last10=Roxo |first10=Fabio F |last11=Valdez-Moreno |first11=Martha |last12=Near |first12=Thomas J |last13=Oliveira |first13=Claudio |date=2024-09-01 |title=Phylogenomics of Characidae, a hyper-diverse Neotropical freshwater fish lineage, with a phylogenetic classification including four families (Teleostei: Characiformes) |url=https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/article-abstract/202/1/zlae101/7748269?redirectedFrom=fulltext |journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society |volume=202 |issue=1 |pages=zlae101 |doi=10.1093/zoolinnean/zlae101 |issn=0024-4082}}</ref><ref name=":13">{{Cite web |last=Fricke |first=R. |last2=Eschmeyer |first2=W. N. |last3=Van der Laan |first3=R. |date=2025 |title=ESCHMEYER'S CATALOG OF FISHES: CLASSIFICATION |url=https://www.calacademy.org/eschmeyers-catalog-of-fishes-classification |access-date=2025-04-28 |website=California Academy of Sciences |language=en}}</ref>

==Classification==
[[File:Aphyocharax anisitsi.jpg|thumb|right|''[[Aphyocharax anisitsi]]'' ([[Aphyocharacinae]])]]
===Taxonomy===
The following classification is based on ''[[Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes]]'' (2025):<ref name=":13" /><ref name="CofFF">{{Cof family|family=Characidae|access-date=11 May 2025}}</ref>
<div float="left">
'''Family Characidae'''

{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
* '''Subfamily [[Aphyocharacinae]]''' <small>Eigenmann, 1909</small>
** ''[[Amazonichthys]]'' <small>Esguícero & Mendonça, 2023</small>
** ''[[Aphyocharacidium]]'' <small>[[Jacques Géry|Géry]], 1960</small>
** ''[[Aphyocharax]]'' <small>[[Albert Günther|Günther]], 1868</small>
** ''[[Cyanogaster]]'' <small>Mattox, Britz, Toledo-Piza & Marinho, 2013</small>
** ''[[Leptagoniates]]'' <small>[[George Albert Boulenger|Boulenger]], 1887</small>
** ''[[Paragoniates]]'' <small>[[Steindachner]], 1876</small>
** ''[[Phenagoniates]]'' <small>[[Carl H. Eigenmann|Eigenmann]] & Wilson, 1914</small>
** ''[[Prionobrama]]'' <small>[[Henry Weed Fowler|Fowler]], 1913</small>
** ''[[Xenagoniates]]'' <small>[[George Sprague Myers|Myers]], 1942</small>
* '''Subfamily [[Cheirodontinae]]''' <small>Eigenmann, 1915</small>
** ''[[Acinocheirodon]]'' <small>Malabarba & Weitzman, 1999</small>
** ''[[Amblystilbe]]'' <small>Fowler, 1940</small>
** ''[[Aphyocheirodon]]'' <small>Eigenmann, 1915</small>
** ''[[Cheirodon]]'' <small>[[Charles Frédéric Girard|Girard]], 1855</small>
** ''[[Cheirodontops]]'' <small>[[Leonard Peter Schultz|Schultz]], 1944</small>
** ''[[Compsura]]'' <small>Eigenmann, 1915</small>
** ''[[Ctenocheirodon]]'' <small>Malabarba & Jerep, 2012</small><ref name=Malabarba2012>Malabarba, L.R. & Jerep, F.C. (2012): A New Genus and Species of Cheirodontine Fish from South America (Teleostei: Characidae).  ''Copeia, 2012 (2): 243–250.''</ref>
** ''[[Heterocheirodon]]'' <small>Malabarba, 1998</small>
** ''[[Holoshesthes]]'' <small>Eigenmann, 1903</small>
** ''[[Kolpotocheirodon]]'' <small>Malabarba & Weitzman, 2000</small>
** ''[[Macropsobrycon]]'' <small>Eigenmann, 1915</small>
** ''[[Nanocheirodon]]'' <small>Malabarba, 1998</small>
** ''[[Odontostilbe]]'' <small>[[Edward Drinker Cope|Cope]], 1870</small>
** ''[[Prodontocharax]]'' <small>Eigenmann & [[Nathan Everett Pearson|Pearson]], 1924</small>
** ''[[Protocheirodon]]'' <small>Vari, Melo & Oliveira, 2016</small><ref name=Vari2016>Vari, R.P., Melo, B.F. & Oliveira, C. (2016): ''Protocheirodon'', a new genus of Characidae (Teleostei: Characiformes) with the redescription of the poorly known ''Protocheirodon pi''. ''Neotropical Ichthyology, 14 (2): e150154.''</ref>
** ''[[Pseudocheirodon]]'' <small>Meek & Hildebrand, 1916</small>
** ''[[Saccoderma]]'' <small>Schultz, 1944</small>
** ''[[Serrapinnus]]'' <small>Malabarba 1998</small>
* '''Subfamily [[Exodontinae]]''' <small>Fowler, 1958</small>
** ''[[Bryconexodon]]'' <small>Géry, 1980</small>
** ''[[Bucktooth tetra|Exodon]]''  <small>[[Johannes Peter Müller|Müller]] & [[Troschel]], 1844</small>
** ''[[Roeboexodon]]'' <small>Géry, 1959</small>
* '''Subfamily [[Tetragonopterinae]]''' <small>[[Theodore Gill|Gill]], 1858</small>
** ''[[Tetragonopterus]]'' <small>[[Georges Cuvier|Cuvier]], 1816</small><!-- ZoolAbhDresden56:3. -->
* '''Subfamily [[Characinae]]''' <small>[[Pierre André Latreille|Latreille]], 1825</small>
** ''[[Acanthocharax]]'' <small>Eigenmann, 1912</small>
** ''[[Acestrocephalus]]'' <small>Eigenmann, 1910</small>
** ''[[Atopomesus]]'' <small>Myers, 1927</small>
** ''[[Charax (fish)|Charax]]'' <small>[[Giovanni Antonio Scopoli|Scopoli]], 1777</small>
** ''[[Cynopotamus]]'' <small>[[Achille Valenciennes|Valenciennes]], 1850</small>
** ''[[Galeocharax]]'' <small>Fowler, 1910</small>
** ''[[Microschemobrycon]]'' <small>Eigenmann, 1915</small>
** ''[[Phenacogaster]]'' <small>Eigenmann, 1907</small><!-- RevBrasZool24:151. -->
** ''[[Roeboides]]'' <small>Günther 1864</small>
{{div col end}}
</div>

===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" />

==References==
{{Commons category|position=left}}
{{Reflist|30em}}
*{{FishBase family | family = Characidae | year = 2011 | month = October}}
<!-- *{{ITIS | ID = 162848 | taxon = Characidae | year = 2007 | date = 02 Mar}} [is it really a good idea to link ITIS for such a fluid taxon?] -->
* 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. [https://web.archive.org/web/20070930014557/http://www.ufrgs.br/ni/vol1num2/1%282%29artigo03.pdf PDF fulltext]
* [[Jacques Géry|Géry, Jacques]] (1977): ''Characoids of the World''. <small>{{ISBN|0-87666-458-3}}</small>
* [[Joseph S. Nelson|Nelson, Joseph S.]] (2006): ''[[Fishes of the World]]''. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. <small>{{ISBN|0-471-25031-7}}</small>

{{Taxonbar|from=Q625352}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Characidae| ]]
[[Category:Characiformes families]]