''Triportheus'' is a genus of

characiform Characiformes is an order of Actinopterygii, 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 ...

fishes from

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 ...

, including

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

, ranging from the Rio de la Plata basin to the basins of 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 Magdalena. Some are migratory. It is the only genus in the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

Triportheinae. The largest species is 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 ...

, but most reach up to about of that size or less. They somewhat resemble larger, more elongated hatchetfish, including a keeled chest and large

pectoral fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish aquatic locomotion, swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the vertebral column ...

s. This leads to the common names narrow hatchetfish and elongate hatchetfish, the latter also used more specifically for ''T. elongatus''. Their shape is an adaption for living near the water surface where they find most of their food such as fruits, seeds, leaves, flowers, other plant material, invertebrates (insects, spiders and alike) and occasionally small fish. Seeds eaten by ''Triportheus'' are sometimes crushed, but may also pass undamaged through the fish, making them potential

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, ...

Species

There are currently 18 recognized species in this genus: * '' Triportheus albus''

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 * '' Triportheus angulatus'' (

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) * ''

Triportheus auritus ''Triportheus'' is a genus of characiform fishes from South America, including Trinidad, ranging from the Rio de la Plata basin to the basins of the Orinoco and Magdalena River, Magdalena. Some are Fish migration, migratory. It is the only genus ...

'' (

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) * '' Triportheus brachipomus'' (

, 1850) * '' Triportheus claudiae'' Lopes & Carvalho, 2024 * '' Triportheus culter'' (

, 1872) * '' Triportheus curtus'' (

Garman Garman is a surname or first name. Notable people with the name include: Sports * Ann Garman, All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player * Judi Garman (born 1954), American softball coach * Mike Garman (born 1949), American baseball pla ...

, 1890) * '' Triportheus elongatus'' ( Günther, 1864) (Elongate hatchetfish) * '' Triportheus guentheri'' (

, 1890) * '' Triportheus magdalenae'' (

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 ...

, 1878) * '' Triportheus nematurus'' ( Kner, 1858) * '' Triportheus orinocensis'' M. C. S. L. Malabarba, 2004 * '' Triportheus pantanensis'' M. C. S. L. Malabarba, 2004 * '' Triportheus paranensis'' ( Günther, 1874) (Tetra) * '' Triportheus pictus'' (

, 1890) * '' Triportheus rotundatus'' (

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) * '' Triportheus signatus'' (

, 1890) * '' Triportheus trifurcatus'' ( Castelnau, 1855) * '' Triportheus venezuelensis'' M. C. S. L. Malabarba, 2004

References

Triportheidae Characiformes genera Taxa named by Edward Drinker Cope {{Characiformes-stub