Acestrorhamphidae, the American tetras, are a diverse

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

freshwater fish Freshwater fish are fish species that spend some or all of their lives in bodies of fresh water such as rivers, lakes, ponds and inland wetlands, where the salinity is less than 1.05%. These environments differ from marine habitats in many wa ...

in the order

Characiformes Characiformes 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.; Buckup P.A.: "Relationsh ...

. They are native to North and South America, from the

southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural list of regions of the United States, region of the United States that includes Arizona and New Mexico, along with adjacen ...

south to temperate

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, with a few species introduced to other parts of the world. It includes many genera previously placed in the family

Characidae Characidae, the characids, is a family of freshwater subtropical and tropical fish belonging to the order Characiformes. They are found throughout much of Central and South America, including such major waterways as the Amazon and Orinoco Riv ...

, which was split into multiple families in 2024. It contains many of the most famous ornamental aquarium fish that are popularly known as

tetras Tetra is the common name of many small freshwater characiform fishes. Tetras come from Africa, Central America, and South America, belonging to the biological families Characidae, Alestidae (the "African tetras"), Lepidarchidae, Lebiasi ...

Taxonomy

Epigean and cave-dwelling Mexican tetras Astyanax mexicanus

The following taxonomy is based on ''

Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes Catalog of Fishes is a comprehensive on-line database and reference work on the scientific names of fish species and genera. It is global in its scope and is hosted by the California Academy of Sciences. It has been compiled and is continuously up ...

'': Family Acestrorhamphidae * Subfamily Oxybryconinae Melo, Mattox & Oliveira, 2024 ** '' Oxybrycon'' Géry, 1964 * Subfamily Trochilocharacinae Melo, Mattox & Oliveira, 2024 (hummingbird characins) ** '' Trochilocharax'' Zarske, 2010 * Subfamily Stygichthyinae Géry, 1972 ** '' Coptobrycon'' Géry, 1966 ** '' Deuterodon'' Eigenmann, 1907 ** '' Myxiops'' Zanata & Akama, 2004 ** '' Stygichthys'' Brittan & Böhlke, 1965 * Subfamily Megalamphodinae Carvalho, Lima & Melo, 2024 (red tetras) ** '' Axelrodia'' Géry, 1965 ** '' Brittanichthys'' Géry, 1965 ** '' Makunaima'' Terán, Benitez & Mirande, 2020 ** '' Megalamphodus'' Eigenmann, 1915 ** '' Paracheirodon'' Géry, 1960 ** '' Petitella'' Géry & Boutière, 1964 * Subfamily Stichonodontinae Eigenmann, 1910 ** '' Hasemania'' Ellis, 1911 ** '' Moenkhausia'' Eigenmann, 1903 ** '' Nematocharax'' Weitzman, Menezes & Britski, 1986 ** '' Stichonodon'' Eigenmann, 1903 *Subfamily Stethaprioninae Eigenmann, 1907 (discus tetras) ** '' Brachychalcinus'' Boulenger, 1892 ** '' Ectrepopterus'' Fowler, 1943 ** '' Orthospinus'' Reis, 1989 ** '' Poptella'' Eigenmann, 1908 ** '' Stethaprion'' Cope, 1870 *Subfamily Pristellinae Géry & Boutière, 1964 ** ''

Hemigrammus ''Hemigrammus'' is a genus of freshwater fish in the family (biology), family Characidae native to South America (including Trinidad) and commonly seen in the aquarium trade. These are medium-small tetras where the largest species reach up to ar ...

'' Gill, 1858 ** ''

Gymnocorymbus ''Gymnocorymbus'' is a genus of small characins from the Amazon basin, Amazon, Paraguay River, Paraguay, Orinoco, Courantyne River, Courantyne, Gurupí River, Gurupí and Parnaíba River, Parnaíba river basins in South America.Benine, R.C., Mel ...

'' Eigenmann, 1908 ** '' Pristella'' Eigenmann, 1908 * Subfamily Jupiabinae Benine & Ota, 2024 ** '' Jupiaba'' Zanata, 1997 * Subfamily Tyttobryconinae Mattox & Melo, 2024 ** '' Priocharax'' Weitzman & Vari, 1987 ** '' Tucanoichthys'' Géry & Römer, 1997 ** '' Tyttobrycon'' Géry, 1973 * Subfamily Hyphessobryconinae Lima, Carvalho & Faria, 2024 (multicusp characins) ** '' Dinotopterygium'' Frainer, Carvalho, Bertaco & Malabarba, 2021 ** '' Erythrocharax'' Netto-Ferreira, Birindelli, Sousa, Mariguela & Oliveira, 2013Netto-Ferreira, A.L., Birindelli, J.L.O., de Sousa, L.M., Mariguela, T.C. & Oliveira, C. (2013)
A New Miniature Characid (Ostariophysi: Characiformes: Characidae), with Phylogenetic Position Inferred from Morphological and Molecular Data.
''PLoS ONE, 8 (1): e52098. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0052098'' ** ''

Hyphessobrycon ''Hyphessobrycon'' is a genus of freshwater fish in the family (biology), family Characidae. These species are among the fishes known as tetras. The genus is distributed in the Neotropical realm from southern Mexico to Río de la Plata in Argenti ...

'' Durbin, 1908 ** '' Parecbasis'' Eigenmann, 1914 ** '' Phycocharax'' Ohara, Mirande & Lima, 2017 Ohara, W.M., Mirande, J.M. & Lima, F.C.T.d. (2017)
''Phycocharax rasbora'', a new genus and species of Brazilian tetra (Characiformes: Characidae) from Serra do Cachimbo, rio Tapajós basin.
''PLoS ONE, 12 (2): e0170648.'' * Subfamily Thayeriinae Ota, Reia & Benine, 2024 ** ''

Bario Bario is a community of 13 to 16 villages located on the Kelabit Highlands in Miri Division, Sarawak, Malaysia, lying at an altitude of 1000 m (3280 ft) above sea level. It is located close to the Sarawak-Kalimantan border, 178 k ...

'' Myers, 1940 ** '' Bryconella'' Géry, 1965 ** '' Hollandichthys'' Eigenmann, 1909 ** '' Holopristis'' Eigenmann, 1903 ** '' Inpaichthys'' Géry & Junk, 1977 ** '' Parapristella'' Géry, 1964 ** '' Rachoviscus'' Myers, 1926 ** '' Ramirezella'' Fernández-Yépez, 1949 ** '' Thayeria'' Eigenmann, 1908 * Subfamily Rhoadsiinae Fowler, 1911 (Pacific characins) ** '' Carlana'' Strand, 1928 ** '' Nematobrycon'' Eigenmann, 1911 ** '' Parastremma'' Eigenmann, 1912 ** '' Pseudochalceus'' Kner, 1863 ** '' Rhoadsia'' Fowler, 1911 * Subfamily Grundulinae Fowler, 1958 ** '' Astyanacinus'' Eigenmann, 1907 ** '' Grundulus''

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; ; or ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced ...

, 1846 * Subfamily Acestrorhamphinae Eigenmann, 1907 ** '' Andromakhe'' Terán, Benitez & Mirande, 2020 ** ''

Astyanax In Greek mythology, Astyanax (; ''Astyánax'', "lord of the city") was the son of Hector, the crown prince of Troy, and of his wife, Princess Andromache of Cilician Thebe."Astyanax". ''Oxford Classical Dictionary''. Oxford, 1949, p. 101 (''s.v. ...

'' Baird & Girard, 1854 ** '' Ctenobrycon'' Eigenmann, 1908 ** '' Oligosarcus'' Günther, 1864 ** '' Psalidodon'' Eigenmann, 1911

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q130251174 Characiformes Characiformes families