| Anablepidae | |
|---|---|
| Four-eyed fish, Anableps sp. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Cyprinodontiformes |
| Family: | Anablepidae Garman, 1895 |
| Subfamilies | |
|
Anablepinae Oxyzygonectinae |
|
Anablepidae is a family of freshwater and brackish water fishes living on river estuaries from southern Mexico to southern South America.[1] There are three genera with sixteen species: the four-eyed fishes (genus Anableps), the onesided livebearers (genus Jenynsia) and the white-eye, Oxyzygonectes dovii. Fish of this family eat mostly insects and other invertebrates.
Contents |
Fish in the subfamily Anablepinae are ovoviviparous. Curiously, they only mate on one side, right-"handed" males with left-"handed" females and vice versa.[2] The male of most species in the family has specialized anal rays which are greatly elongated and fused into a tube called a gonopodium associated with the sperm duct which he uses as an intromittent organ to deliver sperm to the female.
The Anablepidae contains seventeen species, grouped into three genera, as follows:[3]
Family Anablepidae