Hemiodontidae
| Hemiodontidae | |
|---|---|
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| Hemiodus gracilis | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| Phylum: | |
| Class: | |
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| Superfamily: | Hemiodontoidea
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| Family: | Hemiodontidae
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The Hemidontidae are a small family of freshwater characins found in northern South America, south to the Paraná-Paraguay Basin. The larger species are popular food fish.[1]
Hemiodontids have a streamlined body shape; many are fast-swimming, and are able to leap out of the water to escape predators. The adults of all species except Micromischodus sugillatus have no teeth on their lower jaws. Most species have a round spot on the side of the midbody and a stripe along the lower lobe of the caudal fin. The largest hemiodontids are around 50 centimetres (20 in)* in length.[1]
Genera
The family has around 29 known species,[2] as well as several undescribed species, in five genera:
References
- ^ a b Weitzman, S.H. & Vari, R.P. (1998). Paxton, J.R. & Eschmeyer, W.N. (ed.). Encyclopedia of Fishes. San Diego: Academic Press. p. 104. ISBN 0-12-547665-5.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Family Hemiodontidae". FishBase. October 2011 version.
- Nelson, Joseph S. (2006). Fishes of the World. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN 0-471-25031-7
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