Erythrinidae

Erythrinidae
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Characiformes
Superfamily: Erythrinoidea
Family: Erythrinidae

The Erythrinidae are a family of freshwater fish found in rivers from Costa Rica south as far as Argentina. They are common and are usually caught with hooks by fishermen, partially because of their voracious behaviour.

Erythrinidae include cylindrical fish with blunt heads, and predate on other fish. They can reach lengths of up to 90 centimetres (35 in). Some species can breathe air, enabling them to survive in water low in oxygen,[1] and even to move over land between ponds.

Species

There are three genera and 16 species in this family:[2]

Notes

  1. ^ Wietzman, S.H. & Vari, R.P. (1998). Paxton, J.R. & Eschmeyer, W.N.. ed. Encyclopedia of Fishes. San Diego: Academic Press. p. 102. ISBN 0-12-547665-5. 
  2. ^ Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2011). "Erythrinidae" in FishBase. October 2011 version.
  3. ^ Blanco, D.R.; Lui, R.L.; Vicari, M.R.; Bertollo, L.A.C.; Moreira-Filho, O. (2011). "Comparative Cytogenetics of Giant Trahiras Hoplias aimara and H. intermedius (Characiformes, Erythrinidae): Chromosomal Characteristics of Minor and Major Ribosomal DNA and Cross-Species Repetitive Centromeric Sequences Mapping Differ among Morphologically Identical Karyotypes". Cytogenetic and Genome Research 132 (1–2): 71–78. doi:10.1159/000320923. PMID 20924165. 

External links

Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Erythrinidae Erythrinidae] at Wikimedia Commons
Data related to Erythrinidae at Wikispecies