''Pristobrycon'' 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 ...
of
piranha
A piranha (, or ; ) is any of a number of freshwater fish species in the subfamily Serrasalminae, of the family Serrasalmidae, in the order Characiformes. These fish inhabit South American rivers, floodplains, lakes and reservoirs. Although ...
s from the
Orinoco
The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers approximately 1 million km2, with 65% of it in Venezuela and 35% in Colombia. It is the List of rivers by discharge, f ...
and
Amazon Basin
The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributary, tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries ...
s, as well as rivers in
the Guianas.
''Pristobrycon'' is not
monophyletic
In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria:
# the grouping contains its own most recent co ...
. No single morphological feature has been found that completely diagnoses this genus. ''P. striolatus'' is very different from other species of this genus.
The genus ''Pristobrycon'' was created by
Eigenmann to include species which have intermediate characters between "the fierce ''Rooseveltiella''
''Pygocentrus nattereri''">Pygocentrus_nattereri.html" ;"title="''Pygocentrus nattereri">''Pygocentrus nattereri''without palatine teeth, and the less blood-thirsty ''Serrasalmus'' with a series of permanent teeth along the palatine". The author designed ''P. calmoni'' as the type species of the genus. Two groups are included in this genus. One group is characterized by presence of the preanal spine (only ''P. calmoni'') and the other group including the rest of the species assigned (''P. careospinus'', ''P. maculipinnis'' and ''P. striolatus'') (Fink & Machado-Allison, 1992; Machado-Allison et al., 1989; Machado-Allison & Fink, 1996). The
validity ''P. aureus'' is questionable.
Species
There are currently five recognized species in this genus:
* ''
Pristobrycon aureus''
(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)
* ''
Pristobrycon calmoni''
( Steindachner, 1908)
* ''
Pristobrycon careospinus''
W. L. Fink & Machado-Allison, 1992
* ''
Pristobrycon maculipinnis''
W. L. Fink & Machado-Allison, 1992
* ''
Pristobrycon striolatus''
( Steindachner, 1908)
Notes
References
*
* Eigenmann, C. 1915. The Serrasalminae and Mylinae. ''Annals of the Carnegie Museum'', IX(3-4):226-272 + plates.
* Fink, W. & A. Machado-Allison. 1992. Three new species of piranhas from Venezuela and Brazil. Ichthyological Explorations of Freshwaters, 2(1):57-71.
* Machado/Allison, A. W. Fink & M.E. Antonio. 1989(1990). Revisión del género ''Serrasalmus'' (Lacepede, 1803) y géneros relacionados de Venezuela: I. notas sobre la morfología y sistemática de ''Pristobrycon striolatus'' (Steindachner, 1908). Acta Biologica Venezuelica, 12(3-4):140-171.
* Machado-Allison & W. Fink. 1996. ''Los Peces Caribes de Venezuela: diagnosis, claves y aspectos ecológicos y evolutivos''. Universidad Central de Venezuela. CDCH (Colección Monografías). 149p.
Serrasalmidae
Taxa named by Carl H. Eigenmann
Fish of South America
{{Characiformes-stub