Acestrorhynchidae is a family of freshwater fish 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 ...
, found in South America. Members of this family are known as freshwater barracudas (not to be confused with the unrelated true barracudas of the
Sphyraenidae) and biting tetras.
Until recently, this family contained only the genus ''
Acestrorhynchus''. However, taxonomic studies have found that the subfamilies Heterocharacinae (originally placed in the closely related
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 ...
) and Roestinae (originally placed in the more distantly related
Cynodontidae) are actually more closely related to ''Acestrorhynchus'', and now they are also placed in this family.
The family is classified as follows:
* Family Acestrorhynchidae
** Subfamily
Acestrorhynchinae Eigenmann, 1912 (freshwater barracudas)
*** Genus ''
Acestrorhynchus''
Eigenmann & Kennedy, 1903
** Subfamily
Roestinae Lucena & Menezes, 1998 (biting tetras)
*** Genus ''
Gilbertolus''
Eigenmann, 1907
*** Genus ''
Roestes
''Roestes'' is a genus of biting tetra from tropical South America, where found in the Amazon Basin and various rivers in the Guianas
The Guianas, also spelled Guyanas or Guayanas, are a geographical region in north-eastern South America. ...
''
Günther, 1864
** Subfamily
Heterocharacinae Géry
Géry () is a commune in the Meuse department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.
See also
*Communes of the Meuse department
The following is a list of the 499 Communes of France, communes of the Meuse (department), Meuse Departments of ...
, 1966 (small biting tetras)
*** Genus ''
Heterocharax''
Eigenmann, 1912
*** Genus ''
Hoplocharax''
Géry, 1966
*** Genus ''
Lonchogenys''
Myers, 1927
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q9138782
Characiformes families