Distichodontidae
| Distichodontidae | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Distichodus maculatus | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Division: | Teleostei |
| Order: | Characiformes |
| Suborder: | Citharinoidei |
| Family: | Distichodontidae Günther, 1864 |
| Genera | |
|
see text | |
The Distichodontidae are a family of African freshwater fishes of the order Characiformes.[1]
Two evolutionary grades are found in this family; micropredators (predators of very small organisms like aquatic insect larvae) and herbivores have a nonprotractile upper jaw and a deep to shallow body, while carnivores have a movable upper jaw and an elongated body.[1] Although the herbivores primarily feed on plant material, these species often have omnivorous tendencies. The carnivores include specialized fish-eaters (genus Mesoborus), fin-eaters (Belonophago, Eugnathichthys and Phago) and species that will feed on both whole fish and fins (Ichthyborus). The fin-eaters attack other fish, even ones that are much larger, where they bite off pieces of fins with their sharp teeth.[2][3][4]
The fish in Distichodontidae vary greatly in size among species, with the smallest micropredators being less than 8 cm (3.1 in) in length, and the largest herbivores can reach up to 83 cm (33 in).[5]
Genera
Distichodontidae contains the following genera:[6]
- Belonophago Giltay, 1929
- Congocharax Matthes, 1964
- Distichodus J. P. Müller & Troschel, 1844
- Dundocharax Poll, 1967
- Eugnathichthys Boulenger, 1898
- Ichthyborus Günther, 1864
- Mesoborus Pellegrin, 1900
- Microstomatichthyoborus Nichols & Griscom, 1917
- Monostichodus Vaillant, 1886
- Nannaethiops Günther, 1872
- Nannocharax Günther, 1867
- Neolebias Steindachner, 1894
- Paradistichodus Pellegrin, 1922
- Paraphago Boulenger, 1899
- Phago Günther, 1865
- Xenocharax Günther, 1867
The following cladogram is based on a 2013 genetic study of Citharinoidei:[7]
| Citharinidae | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Distichodontidae |
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References
- 1 2 Nelson, Joseph, S. (2006). Fishes of the World. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN 0-471-25031-7.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ↑ Lavoué, S.; M.E.Arnegard; D.L. Rabosky; P.B. McIntyre; D. Arcila; R.P. Vari; M. Nishida (2017). Trophic evolution in African citharinoid fishes (Teleostei: Characiformes) and the origin of intraordinal pterygophagy. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 113: 23-32. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2017.05.001
- ↑ Matthes, H. (1961). Feeding Habit of Some Central African Freshwater Fishes. Nature 192: 78–80.
- ↑ Arroyave, J.; M.L.J. Stiassny (2014). DNA barcoding reveals novel insights into pterygophagy and prey selection in distichodontid fishes (Characiformes: Distichodontidae). Ecology and evolution 4(23): 4534–4542. doi:10.1002/ece3.1321
- ↑ Weitzman, S.H.; Vari, R.P. (1998). Paxton, J.R.; Eschmeyer, W.N. (eds.). Encyclopedia of Fishes. San Diego: Academic Press. p. 101. ISBN 0-12-547665-5.
- ↑ Fricke, Ron; Eschmeyer, William N. & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Distichodontidae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
- ↑ Arroyave, Jairo; Denton, John S. S.; Stiassny, Melanie L. J. (8 October 2013). "Are characiform Fishes Gondwanan in Origin? Insights from a Time-Scaled Molecular Phylogeny of the Citharinoidei (Ostariophysi: Characiformes)". PLOS ONE. 8 (10) e77269. Bibcode:2013PLoSO...877269A. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0077269. PMC 3792904. PMID 24116219.