''Moenkhausia'' 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 n ...

freshwater fish Freshwater fish are those that spend some or all of their lives in fresh water, such as rivers and lakes, with a salinity of less than 1.05%. These environments differ from marine conditions in many ways, especially the difference in levels of s ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Characidae Characidae, the characids or characins is a family of freshwater subtropical and tropical fish, belonging to the order Characiformes. The name "characins" is the historical one, but scientists today tend to prefer "characids" to reflect their s ...

native to tropical and subtropical

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the souther ...

. These are medium-sized

tetra Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA; formerly known as Trans-European Trunked Radio), a European standard for a trunked radio system, is a professional mobile radio and two-way transceiver specification. TETRA was specifically designed for use by ...

s where the largest species only reach around . The

diamond tetra The diamond tetra (''Moenkhausia pittieri'') is a small freshwater fish of the characin family (family Characidae) of order Characiformes. It is found in and around Lake Valencia in Venezuela, South America. Description This species exhibits cl ...

and

red-eye tetra The redeye tetra (''Moenkhausia sanctaefilomenae''), is a species of tetra from the São Francisco, upper Paraná, Paraguay and Uruguay river basins in eastern and central South America. This freshwater fish is commonly kept in aquariums and br ...

, which are commonly kept in aquaria, are members of this genus.SeriouslyFish
Moenkhausia sanctaefilomenae.
Retrieved 21 March 2017.

Species

There are currently 90 recognized species in this genus:

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q140873 Characidae Fish of South America Freshwater fish genera Taxa named by Carl H. Eigenmann