''Brycon'' 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 ...

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

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 ...

Bryconidae Bryconidae, also known as bryconids, is a family of freshwater fishes belonging to the order Characiformes. They are native to South America. Some species reach particularly large sizes for characins, with '' Salminus franciscanus'' being one of ...

and 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 freshwater habitats in Central and

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 ...

, ranging from southern

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

to northern

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 ...

. Despite not being closely related to true

trout Trout (: trout) is a generic common name for numerous species of carnivorous freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of which are members of the subfamily Salmoninae in the ...

, they are sometimes called South American trout. Members of the genus may be referred to by a number of other different

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often con ...

s in various languages. They reach a maximum length of depending on the species involved. Some species perform seasonal breeding migrations.Araujo-Lima, C.A.R.M.; and M.L. Ruffino (2003). Migratory Fishes of the Brazilian Amazon. Pp. 233—302 in: Carolsfeld, J.; B. Harvey; C. Ross; and A. Baer (editors). Migratory Fishes of South America. They feed heavily on fruits and seeds, but also take other plant material, invertebrates and small fish. Their food is typically taken from the water, but they are able to jump out of the water to "pluck" low-hanging seeds and fruits directly from trees. Some seeds are crushed when eaten, but may also pass undamaged through the fish, making them

seed disperser In spermatophyte plants, seed dispersal is the movement, spread or transport of seeds away from the parent plant. Plants have limited mobility and rely upon a variety of dispersal vectors to transport their seeds, including both abiotic vectors, ...

s. ''Brycon'' support important fisheries and based on a review by

IBAMA The Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources ( Portuguese: ''Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis'', IBAMA) is a government agency under the administration of the Brazilian Minis ...

, they are the fifth most caught fish by weight in the

Brazilian Amazon Brazilian commonly refers to: * Brazil, a country * Brazilians, its people * Brazilian Portuguese, its dialect Brazilian may also refer to: * "The Brazilian", a 1986 instrumental music piece by Genesis * Brazilian Café, Baghdad, Iraq (1937) * Bra ...

. One

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

member of this genus is known in †''

Brycon avus ''Brycon'' is a genus of fish in the family Bryconidae and order Characiformes found in freshwater habitats in Central and South America, ranging from southern Mexico to northern Argentina. Despite not being closely related to true trout, they a ...

'' ( Woodward, 1898) from the

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch (geology), epoch of the Paleogene Geologic time scale, Period that extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that defin ...

-aged

Tremembé Formation Tremembé is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of Vale do Paraíba e Litoral Norte. The population is 47,714 (2020 est.) in an area of 191.09 km². The elevation is 560 m. A s ...

of Brazil. A slightly older potential specimen of ''B. avus'' is also known from the

Late Eocene The Priabonian is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy, ICS's geologic timescale, the latest age (geology), age or the upper stage (stratigraphy), stage of the Eocene epoch (geology), Epoch or series (stratigraphy), Series. It spans ...

/Early Oligocene of the

Aiuruoca Basin Aiuruoca is a city in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, being the fourth largest state by area and the second largest in number of inhabitants with a population of 20,539,989 ac ...

Species

There are currently 46 recognized species in this genus: * ''

Brycon alburnus ''Brycon'' is a genus of fish in the family Bryconidae and order Characiformes found in freshwater habitats in Central and South America, ranging from southern Mexico to northern Argentina. Despite not being closely related to true trout, they a ...

'' ( Günther, 1860) * ''

Brycon amazonicus ''Brycon'' is a genus of fish in the family Bryconidae and order Characiformes found in freshwater habitats in Central and South America, ranging from southern Mexico to northern Argentina. Despite not being closely related to true trout, they a ...

'' (

Spix Johann Baptist Ritter von Spix (9 February 1781 – 13 March 1826) was a German natural history, biologist. From his expedition to Brazil, he brought to Germany a large variety of specimens of plants, insects, mammals, birds, amphibians and fish. ...

Agassiz Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz ( ; ) FRS (For) FRSE (May 28, 1807 – December 14, 1873) was a Swiss-born American biologist and geologist who is recognized as a scholar of Earth's natural history. Spending his early life in Switzerland, he recei ...

, 1829) * ''

Brycon argenteus ''Brycon'' is a genus of fish in the family Bryconidae and order Characiformes found in freshwater habitats in Central and South America, ranging from southern Mexico to northern Argentina. Despite not being closely related to true trout, they a ...

Meek Meekness is an attribute of human nature and behavior that has been defined as an amalgam of righteousness, inner humility, and patience. Meekness has been contrasted with humility alone insomuch as humility simply refers to an attitude towards o ...

Hildebrand Hildebrand is a character from Germanic heroic legend. ''Hildebrand'' is the modern German form of the name: in Old High German it is ''Hiltibrant'' and in Old Norse ''Hildibrandr''. The word ''hild'' means "battle" and ''brand'' means "sword" ...

, 1913 * '' Brycon atrocaudatus'' ( Kner, 1863) * '' Brycon behreae''

, 1938 * '' Brycon bicolor'' Pellegrin, 1909 * '' Brycon cephalus'' ( Günther, 1869) * '' Brycon chagrensis'' ( Kner, 1863) * '' Brycon coquenani''

Steindachner Franz Steindachner (11 November 1834 in Vienna – 10 December 1919 in Vienna) was an Austrian zoologist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist. He published over 200 papers on fishes and over 50 papers on reptiles and amphibians. Steindachner descri ...

, 1915 * ''

Brycon costaricensis ''Brycon'' is a genus of fish in the family Bryconidae and order Characiformes found in freshwater habitats in Central and South America, ranging from southern Mexico to northern Argentina. Despite not being closely related to true trout, they ...

'' Angulo & Gracian-Negrete, 2013Angulo, A. & Gracian-Negrete, J.M. (2013)
A new species of ''Brycon'' (Characiformes: Characidae) from Nicaragua and Costa Rica, with a key to the lower Mesoamerican species of the genus.
''Zootaxa, 3731 (2): 255–266.'' * '' Brycon coxeyi'' Fowler, 1943 * '' Brycon dentex'' Günther, 1860 * '' Brycon devillei'' ( Castelnau, 1855) * '' Brycon dulcis'' F. C. T. Lima & F. Vieira, 2017Lima, F.C.T. (2017): A revision of the cis-andean species of the genus ''Brycon'' Müller & Troschel (Characiformes: Characidae). ''Zootaxa, 4222 (1): 1–189.'' * '' Brycon falcatus'' J. P. Müller & Troschel, 1844 * '' Brycon ferox''

, 1877 * '' Brycon fowleri'' Dahl, 1955 * '' Brycon gouldingi'' F. C. T. Lima, 2004 * ''

Brycon guatemalensis ''Brycon'' is a genus of fish in the family Bryconidae and order Characiformes found in freshwater habitats in Central and South America, ranging from southern Mexico to northern Argentina. Despite not being closely related to true trout, they a ...

'' Regan, 1908 * '' Brycon henni'' C. H. Eigenmann, 1913 * '' Brycon hilarii'' (

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) * '' Brycon howesi'' F. C. T. Lima, 2017 * '' Brycon insignis''

, 1877 * '' Brycon labiatus''

, 1879 * '' Brycon medemi'' Dahl, 1960 * '' Brycon meeki'' C. H. Eigenmann &

, 1918 * '' Brycon melanopterus'' (

Cope A cope ( ("rain coat") or ("cape")) is a liturgical long mantle or cloak, open at the front and fastened at the breast with a band or clasp. It may be of any liturgical colour. A cope may be worn by any rank of the Catholic or Anglican clerg ...

, 1872) * '' Brycon moorei''

, 1878 * '' Brycon nattereri'' Günther, 1864 * '' Brycon obscurus''

, 1938 * '' Brycon oligolepis'' Regan, 1913 * '' Brycon opalinus'' ( G. Cuvier, 1819) * '' Brycon orbignyanus'' (

, 1850) * '' Brycon orthotaenia'' Günther, 1864 * '' Brycon pesu'' J. P. Müller & Troschel, 1845 * '' Brycon petrosus''

, 1913 * '' Brycon polylepis'' Moscó Morales, 1988 * '' Brycon posadae'' Fowler, 1945 * '' Brycon rubricauda''

, 1879 * '' Brycon sinuensis'' Dahl, 1955 * '' Brycon stolzmanni''

, 1879 * '' Brycon striatulus'' ( Kner, 1863) * '' Brycon unicolor'' Moscó Morales, 1988 * '' Brycon vermelha'' F. C. T. Lima & R. M. C. Castro, 2000 * '' Brycon vonoi'' F. C. T. Lima, 2017 * '' Brycon whitei'' G. S. Myers & S. H. Weitzman, 1960 File:Brycon cf amazonicus.jpg, ''Brycon''

cf. The abbreviation cf. (short for either Latin or , both meaning 'compare') is generally used in writing to refer the reader to other material to make a comparison with the topic being discussed. However some sources offer differing or even contr ...

''amazonicus'' File:Brycon behreae.jpg, ''Brycon behreae'' File:Brycon henni 02.JPG, ''Brycon henni'' File:Brycon moorei.jpg, ''Brycon moorei'' File:Brycon rubricauda (16609679980).jpg, ''Brycon rubricauda'' File:Brycon hilarii piraputanga rio prata 01.webm, Brycon hilarii

References

{{Authority control Bryconidae Freshwater fish genera Taxa named by Johannes Peter Müller Taxa named by Franz Hermann Troschel Taxonomy articles created by Polbot