Aplocheilidae, the Asian killifishes or Asian rivulines, is a
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 ...
of
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
order
Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to:
* A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica
* Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood
...
Cyprinodontiformes
Cyprinodontiformes is an order (biology), order of Actinopterygii, ray-finned fish, comprising mostly small, freshwater fish. Many popular aquarium fish, such as killifish and Poeciliidae, live-bearers, are included. They are closely related t ...
found in
Asia
Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...
. Some authorities use this family-group name, which is well-established, for a single lumped aplocheiloid family as it gives the nomenclature stability over time and avoids the impact of a new name at family rank for a popular
aquarium fish group.
[van der Laan, R., Eschmeyer, W.N. & Fricke, R. (2014)]
Family-group names of Recent fishes.
''Zootaxa, 3882 (2): 1–230.'' Following this proposal, Aplocheilidae would include three subfamilies:
Aplocheilinae for the species from Asia,
Madagascar
Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...
and the
Seychelles
Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (; Seychellois Creole: ), is an island country and archipelagic state consisting of 155 islands (as per the Constitution) in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, Victoria, ...
;
Cynolebiinae (formerly called Rivulidae) for the species from the Americas; and
Nothobranchiinae for the species from the African mainland.
[Costa, W.J.E.M. (2016)]
Comparative morphology and classification of South American cynopoeciline killifishes (Cyprinodontiformes: Aplocheilidae), with notes on family-group names used for aplocheiloids.
''Vertebrate Zoology, 66 (2): 125–140.'' However, the 5th edition of ''
Fishes of the World
''Fishes of the World'' is a standard reference for the systematics of fishes. It was first written in 1976 by the American ichthyologist Joseph S. Nelson (1937–2011). Now in its fifth edition (2016), the work is a comprehensive overview of t ...
'' still classifies these as separate families,
and at least one 2008 study suggests that even the narrow Aplocheilidae may not be monophyletic, with ''Aplocheilus'' itself possibly being basal to all other Cyprinodontiforms and thus only distantly related to the younger ''Pachypanchax''.
[Hertwig, S. T., 2008 - Zoologica Scripta 37(2): 141–174
Phylogeny of the Cyprinodontiformes (Teleostei, Atherinomorpha): the contribution of cranial soft tissue characters.]
Genera
There are two genera which are currently placed in the family Aplocheilidae:
Myers
Myers as a surname has several possible origins, e.g. Old French ("physician"), Old English ("mayor"), and Old Norse ("marsh").
People
* Abram F. Myers (1889–after 1960), chair of the Federal Trade Commission and later general counsel and b ...
, 1933
References
{{Authority control
Percomorpha families
Taxa named by Pieter Bleeker