''Odontesthes'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

Neotropical silverside The Neotropical silversides are a family, Atherinopsidae, of fishes in the order Atheriniformes. About 112 species in 13 genera are distributed throughout the tropical and temperate waters of the New World, including both marine and freshwater h ...

s. They are found in fresh,

brackish Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estu ...

and salt water habitats in the southern half of South America (north to Brazil and Peru), as well as the offshore Juan Fernández and

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouze ...

. Additionally, '' O. bonariensis'' has been introduced to other continents. The different ''Odontesthes'' species are generally quite similar in their appearance and some have been known to

hybridize Hybridization (or hybridisation) may refer to: *Hybridization (biology), the process of combining different varieties of organisms to create a hybrid *Orbital hybridization, in chemistry, the mixing of atomic orbitals into new hybrid orbitals *Nu ...

. Some are commercially important and the target of fisheries.

Species

Several ''Odontesthes'' were formerly included in the genus '' Basilichthys'' instead. The currently recognized species of ''Odontesthes'' are: * '' Odontesthes argentinensis'' (

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Valincyinnes or ; la, Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced a ...

, 1835) * '' Odontesthes bicudo'' L. R. Malabarba & Dyer, 2002 * ''

Odontesthes bonariensis ''Odontesthes bonariensis'' is a species of Neotropical silverside, an euryhaline fish native to fresh, brackish and salt water in south-central and southeastern South America, but also introduced elsewhere. It is often known by the common nam ...

'' (

, 1835) (Argentinian silverside) * '' Odontesthes brevianalis'' ( Günther, 1880) * '' Odontesthes crossognathos'' Juliana M. Wingert et. alA New Species of Silverside of the Genus Odontesthes, 4 November 2022
/ref> * '' Odontesthes gracilis'' ( Steindachner, 1898) * ''Odontesthes hatcheri'' (Carl H. Eigenmann, C. H. Eigenmann, 1909) * ''Odontesthes humensis'' Don Fernando de Buen y Lozano, F. de Buen, 1953 * ''Odontesthes incisa'' (Leonard Blomefield, Jenyns, 1841) * ''Odontesthes ledae'' L. R. Malabarba & Dyer, 2002 * ''Odontesthes mauleanum'' ( Steindachner, 1896) * ''Odontesthes mirinensis'' Marlise de Azevedo Bemvenuti, Bemvenuti, 1996 * ''Odontesthes nigricans'' (John Richardson (naturalist), J. Richardson, 1848) * ''Odontesthes orientalis'' Don Fernando de Buen y Lozano, F. de Buen, 1950 * ''Odontesthes perugiae'' Barton Warren Evermann, Evermann & William Converse Kendall, Kendall, 1906 * ''Odontesthes piquava'' L. R. Malabarba & Dyer, 2002 * ''Odontesthes platensis'' (Carlos Berg, C. Berg, 1895) * ''Odontesthes regia'' (Alexander von Humboldt, Humboldt, 1821) (Chilean silverside) * ''Odontesthes retropinnis'' (Don Fernando de Buen y Lozano, F. de Buen, 1953) * ''Odontesthes smitti'' (Fernando Lahille, Lahille, 1929) * ''Odontesthes wiebrichi'' (Carl H. Eigenmann, C. H. Eigenmann, 1928) — validity uncertain * ''Odontesthes yucuman'' Wingert, Ferrer & Malabarba, 2017

References

Odontesthes, Atherinopsidae {{Atheriniformes-stub