''Myloplus'' 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 ...

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

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 ...

Serrasalmidae The Serrasalmidae (serrasalmids) are a family of characiform fishes native to freshwater habitats of South America. They include more than 90 species. The name means "serrated salmon family", which refers to the serrated keel running along the ...

found in tropical and subtropical

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 ...

, where they inhabit rivers and streams (both slow and fast-flowing). They are primarily

herbivores A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically evolved to feed on plants, especially upon vascular tissues such as foliage, fruits or seeds, as the main component of its diet. These more broadly also encompass animals that eat ...

, but also take some animal matter. Depending on the exact species, they reach up to in

standard length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of fish anatomy, their anatomies, for data used in many areas of ichthyology, including Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy and fishery biology. Overall length Standard length (SL) is ...

. Adult males have a double-lobed

anal fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported o ...

and filamentous extensions on the

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates. Dorsal fins have evolved independently several times through convergent evolution adapting to marine environments, so the fins are not all homologous. They are found ...

, and both sexes (but especially males) can be brightly colored when breeding.

Species

There are currently 15 recognized species in this genus.Ota, R.P., Röpke, C.P., Zuanon, J. & Jégu, M. (2013): Serrasalmidae. ''In'': Queiroz, L.J., Torrente-Vilara, G., Ohara, W.M., Pires, T.H.S., Zuanon, J. & Doria, C.R.C. (Eds.), ''Peixes do rio Madeira.'' Volume II, ''Santo Antonio Energia, São Paulo, 12–47.'' Many of these were formerly included in '' Myleus''. * '' Myloplus arnoldi'' C. G. E. Ahl, 1936 * '' Myloplus asterias'' ( J. P. Müller & Troschel, 1844) * '' Myloplus aylan'' Pereira, Ota, Machado, Collins, Ândrade, Garcia-Ayala, Jégu, Farias & Hrbek, 2024 * '' Myloplus levis'' ( C. H. Eigenmann & McAtee, 1907) * '' Myloplus lobatus'' (

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, 1850) * '' Myloplus lucienae'' M. C. Andrade, Ota, Bastos & Jégu, 2016Andrade, M.C., Ota, R.P., Bastos, D.A. & Jégu, M. (2016): A new large ''Myloplus'' Gill 1896 from rio Negro basin, Brazilian Amazon (Characiformes: Serrasalmidae). ''Zootaxa, 4205 (6): 571–580.'' * '' Myloplus nigrolineatus'' R. P. Ota, V. N. Machado, M. C. Andrade, R. A. Collins, I. P. Farias & Hrbek, 2020 (Blackline myleus) * '' Myloplus planquettei'' Jégu, Keith & Le Bail, 2003 * '' Myloplus rubripinnis'' ( J. P. Müller & Troschel, 1844) (Redhook myleus) * '' Myloplus sauron'' Pereira, Ota, Machado, Collins, Ândrade, Garcia-Ayala, Jégu, Farias & Hrbek, 2024 * '' Myloplus schomburgkii'' (

Jardine Jardine is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Al Jardine (born 1942), member of the Beach Boys * Alexander Jardine (British Army officer) (died 1799), Scottish army officer and author * Alexander Jardine (Medal of Honor) (1874– ...

, 1841) (Disk tetra) * '' Myloplus tiete'' ( C. H. Eigenmann & A. A. Norris, 1900) * '' Myloplus torquatus'' ( Kner, 1858) * '' Myloplus tumukumak'' M. C. Andrade, Jégu & Gama, 2018Andrade, Marcelo C. ; Michel Jégu; and Cecile S. Gama (2018). A New Species of Myloplus Gill (Characiformes, Serrasalmidae) from the Tumucumaque Mountain Range, Brazil and French Guiana, with Comments on M. rubripinnis. Zootaxa. 4403(1); 111–122. * '' Myloplus zorroi'' M. C. Andrade, Jégu & Giarrizzo, 2016Andrade, M.C., Jégu, M. & Giarrizzo, T. (2016)
A new large species of ''Myloplus'' (Characiformes, Serrasalmidae) from the Rio Madeira basin, Brazil.
''ZooKeys, 571: 153–167.''

References

Fish of South America Serrasalmidae Taxa named by Theodore Gill Ray-finned fish genera {{Characiformes-stub