''Brycinus'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fish or actinopterygians, is a class of bony fish that comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. They are so called because of their lightly built fins made of webbings of sk ...

in the

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 ...

Alestiidae African tetras (family (biology), family Alestidae, formerly spelled Alestiidae) are a group of Characiformes, characiform fish found exclusively in Africa. This family contains about 18 genera and 119 species. Among the best known members are th ...

, the African tetras. Like other "

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

n characids", they were formerly included in the

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 ...

but are actually somewhat more distantly related

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 ...

. Like some other Alestiidae, they are called robber tetras due to their bold and rather

carnivorous A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose nutrition and energy requirements are met by consumption of animal tissues (mainly mu ...

habits. They are not infrequently kept as

aquarium An aquarium (: aquariums or aquaria) is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. fishkeeping, Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aquati ...

fishes and in their requirements resemble the

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

tetra 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 ...

s of the Characidae. Unlike these, ''Brycinus'' are not well-suited to accompany delicate fishes however and are better kept with

dwarf cichlid Dwarf cichlid is a term used by fishkeeping hobbyists to describe an arbitrary assemblage of small-sized fish from the family Cichlidae. Although the grouping is widely used in the aquarium industry and hobby, the grouping has no taxonomic or eco ...

s and similar small but robust companions.

Species

These are the currently recognized species in this genus: * '' Brycinus batesii'' ( Boulenger, 1903) * '' Brycinus brevis'' (Boulenger, 1903) * ''

Brycinus carmesinus ''Brycinus'' is a genus of ray-finned fish in the family Alestiidae, the African tetras. Like other "African characids", they were formerly included in the Characidae but are actually somewhat more distantly related Characiformes. Like some oth ...

'' ( Nichols & Griscom, 1917) * '' Brycinus grandisquamis'' (Boulenger, 1899) (Pink-fin robber) * ''

Brycinus intermedius ''Brycinus'' is a genus of ray-finned fish in the family Alestiidae, the African tetras. Like other "African characids", they were formerly included in the Characidae but are actually somewhat more distantly related Characiformes. Like some oth ...

'' ( Boulenger, 1903) * ''

Brycinus leuciscus ''Brycinus'' is a genus of ray-finned fish in the family Alestiidae, the African tetras. Like other "African characids", they were formerly included in the Characidae but are actually somewhat more distantly related Characiformes. Like some oth ...

'' ( Günther, 1867) * ''

Brycinus luteus ''Brycinus'' is a genus of ray-finned fish in the family Alestiidae, the African tetras. Like other "African characids", they were formerly included in the Characidae but are actually somewhat more distantly related Characiformes. Like some oth ...

'' ( Román, 1966) * ''

Brycinus macrolepidotus ''Brycinus macrolepidotus'', the true big-scale tetra or largescale robber, is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Alestidae, the African tetras. This fish is widespread in tropical Africa. Taxonomy ''Brycinus macrolep ...

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 ...

, 1850 (True big-scale tetra) * ''

Brycinus poptae ''Brycinus'' is a genus of ray-finned fish in the family Alestiidae, the African tetras. Like other "African characids", they were formerly included in the Characidae but are actually somewhat more distantly related Characiformes. Like some oth ...

'' ( Pellegrin, 1906) * ''

Brycinus rhodopleura ''Brycinus rhodopleura'' is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Alestidae, the African tetras. It is endemic to Tanzania. Its natural habitats are rivers and freshwater lake A lake is often a naturally occurri ...

'' (Boulenger, 1906) * ''

Brycinus schoutedeni ''Brycinus'' is a genus of ray-finned fish in the family Alestiidae, the African tetras. Like other "African characids", they were formerly included in the Characidae but are actually somewhat more distantly related Characiformes. Like some oth ...

'' (Boulenger, 1912)

References

Fish of Africa Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Characiformes-stub