Astyanax is a genus of freshwater fish in the characid family (family Characidae) of the order Characiformes. Some of these fish, like many of their relatives, are kept as aquarium pets and known collectively as tetras. With around 130 described Astyanax species and new ones being described every few months, this genus is among the largest of the entire order: Hyphessobrycon also has more than 100 species, and which one is larger at any one time depends on whether more species have been recently described in one or the other.^[1]

The blind cave fish, a form of A. mexicanus, is a famous member of this genus. A. jordani, a different but closely related blind fish, was formerly considered to form its own genus, Anoptichthys.

The type species is A. mexicanus, the Mexican tetra. The generic name comes from Astyanax, a character in Greek mythology who was the son of Hector of Troy; in homage to this, several specific epithets also refer to the Iliad.^[2]

Taxonomy and systematics

This genus is more or less defined as in 1917 by Carl H. Eigenmann. The lack of comprehensive phylogenetic analyses dealing with this genus is hindering a thorough review, and the relationships remain as indeterminate as the monophyly is doubtful.^[3]

Species

There are currently 137 recognized species in this genus:^[4]

Astyanax abramis (Jenyns, 1842) Astyanax aeneus (Günther, 1860) (Central Tetra, Banded Tetra) Astyanax ajuricaba Marinho & F. C. T. Lima, 2009 Astyanax alburnus (R. F. Hensel, 1870) Astyanax altior C. L. Hubbs, 1936 (Yucatan tetra) Astyanax altiparanae Garutti & Britski, 2000 Astyanax angustifrons (Regan, 1908) Astyanax anterior C. H. Eigenmann, 1908 Astyanax aramburui Protogino, Miquelarena & H. L. López, 2006 Astyanax argyrimarginatus Garutti, 1999 Astyanax asuncionensis Géry, 1972 Astyanax atratoensis C. H. Eigenmann, 1907 Astyanax aurocaudatus C. H. Eigenmann, 1913 Astyanax bifasciatus Garavello & F. A. A. Sampaio, 2010[5] Astyanax bimaculatus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Twospot Tetra/Astyanax) Astyanax biotae R. M. C. Castro & Vari, 2004 Astyanax bockmanni Vari & R. M. C. Castro, 2007 Astyanax bourgeti C. H. Eigenmann, 1908 Astyanax brachypterygium Bertaco & L. R. Malabarba, 2001 Astyanax brevirhinus C. H. Eigenmann, 1908 Astyanax burgerai Zanata & Camelier, 2009 Astyanax caucanus (Steindachner, 1879) Astyanax chaparae Fowler, 1943 Astyanax chico Casciotta & Almirón, 2004 Astyanax clavitaeniatus Garutti, 2003 Astyanax cocibolca W. A. Bussing, 2008 Astyanax cordovae (Günther, 1880) Astyanax correntinus (Holmberg, 1891) Astyanax courensis Bertaco, F. R. de Carvalho & Jerep, 2010 Astyanax cremnobates Bertaco & L. R. Malabarba, 2001 Astyanax daguae C. H. Eigenmann, 1913 Astyanax depressirostris A. Miranda-Ribeiro, 1908 Astyanax dissimilis Garavello & F. A. A. Sampaio, 2010[5] Astyanax dnophos F. C. T. Lima & Zuanon, 2004 Astyanax eigenmanniorum (Cope, 1894) Astyanax elachylepis Bertaco & Lucinda, 2005 Astyanax endy Mirande, Aguilera & Azpelicueta, 2006 Astyanax epiagos Zanata & Camelier, 2008 Astyanax erythropterus (Holmberg, 1891) Astyanax fasciatus (G. Cuvier, 1819) (Banded Tetra/Astyanax) Astyanax fasslii (Steindachner, 1915) Astyanax festae (Boulenger, 1898) Astyanax filiferus (C. H. Eigenmann, 1913) Astyanax gisleni Dahl, 1943 Astyanax giton C. H. Eigenmann, 1908 Astyanax goyacensis C. H. Eigenmann, 1908 Astyanax goyanensis (P. Miranda-Ribeiro, 1944) Astyanax gracilior C. H. Eigenmann, 1908 Astyanax guaporensis C. H. Eigenmann, 1911 Astyanax guianensis C. H. Eigenmann, 1909 Astyanax gymnodontus (C. H. Eigenmann, 1911) Astyanax gymnogenys C. H. Eigenmann, 1911 Astyanax hastatus G. S. Myers, 1928 Astyanax henseli F. A. G. de Melo & Buckup, 2006 Astyanax hermosus Miquelarena, Protogino & H. L. López, 2005 Astyanax integer G. S. Myers, 1930 Astyanax intermedius C. H. Eigenmann, 1908 Astyanax ita Almirón, Azpelicueta & Casciotta, 2002 Astyanax jacobinae Zanata & Camelier, 2008 (Piaba) Astyanax jacuhiensis (Cope, 1894) Astyanax janeiroensis C. H. Eigenmann, 1908 Astyanax jenynsii (Steindachner, 1877) Astyanax jordanensis Vera Alcaraz, Pavanelli & Bertaco, 2009 Astyanax jordani (C. L. Hubbss & Innes, 1936) (Cave Tetra, sardina ciega) Astyanax kennedyi Géry, 1964 Astyanax kompi Hildebrand, 1938 Astyanax kullanderi W. J. E. M. Costa, 1995 Astyanax lacustris (Lütken, 1875) Astyanax latens Mirande, Aguilera & Azpelicueta, 2004

Astyanax laticeps (Cope, 1894) Astyanax leonidas Azpelicueta, Casciotta & Almirón, 2002 Astyanax leopoldi Géry, Planquette & Le Bail, 1988 Astyanax lineatus (Perugia, 1891) Astyanax longior (Cope, 1878) Astyanax longirhinus Garavello & F. A. A. Sampaio, 2010[5] Astyanax maculisquamis Garutti & Britski, 1997 Astyanax magdalenae C. H. Eigenmann & Henn, 1916 Astyanax marionae C. H. Eigenmann, 1911 Astyanax maximus (Steindachner, 1877) Astyanax megaspilura Fowler, 1944 Astyanax mexicanus (De Filippi, 1853) (Mexican Tetra) Astyanax microlepis C. H. Eigenmann, 1913 Astyanax microschemos Bertaco & C. A. S. de Lucena, 2006 Astyanax minor Garavello & F. A. A. Sampaio, 2010[5] Astyanax multidens C. H. Eigenmann, 1908 Astyanax mutator C. H. Eigenmann, 1909 Astyanax myersi (Fernández-Yépez, 1950) Astyanax nasutus Meek, 1907 (Colcibolca Tetra) Astyanax nicaraguensis C. H. Eigenmann & Ogle, 1907 Astyanax obscurus (R. F. Hensel, 1870) Astyanax ojiara Azpelicueta & J. O. Garcia, 2000 Astyanax orbignyanus (Valenciennes, 1850) Astyanax orthodus C. H. Eigenmann, 1907 (Largespot Tetra) Astyanax pampa Casciotta, Almirón & Azpelicueta, 2005 Astyanax paraguayensis (Fowler, 1918) Astyanax parahybae C. H. Eigenmann, 1908 Astyanax paranae C. H. Eigenmann, 1914 Astyanax paranahybae C. H. Eigenmann, 1911 Astyanax paris Azpelicueta, Almirón & Casciotta, 2002 Astyanax pedri (C. H. Eigenmann, 1908) Astyanax pelecus Bertaco & C. A. S. de Lucena, 2006 Astyanax pellegrini C. H. Eigenmann, 1907 Astyanax pirapuan Tagliacollo, Britzke, G. S. C. Silva & Benine, 2011[6] Astyanax poetzschkei C. G. E. Ahl, 1932 Astyanax puka Mirande, Aguilera & Azpelicueta, 2007 Astyanax pynandi Casciotta, Almirón, Bechara, J. P. Roux & Ruiz Díaz, 2003 Astyanax ribeirae C. H. Eigenmann, 1911 Astyanax rivularis (Lütken, 1875) Astyanax robustus Meek, 1912 Astyanax ruberrimus C. H. Eigenmann, 1913 Astyanax rupununi Fowler, 1914 Astyanax saguazu Casciotta, Almirón & Azpelicueta, 2003 Astyanax saltor Travassos, 1960 Astyanax scabripinnis (Jenyns, 1842) Astyanax schubarti Britski, 1964 Astyanax scintillans G. S. Myers, 1928 Astyanax serratus Garavello & F. A. A. Sampaio, 2010[5] Astyanax siapae Garutti, 2003 Astyanax stenohalinus Messner, 1962 Astyanax stilbe (Cope, 1870) Astyanax superbus G. S. Myers, 1942 Astyanax symmetricus C. H. Eigenmann, 1908 Astyanax taeniatus (Jenyns, 1842) Astyanax totae Ferreira Haluch & Abilhoa, 2005 Astyanax trierythropterus Godoy (pt), 1970 Astyanax troya Azpelicueta, Casciotta & Almirón, 2002 Astyanax tumbayaensis Miquelarena & Menni, 2005 Astyanax tupi Azpelicueta, Mirande, Almirón & Casciotta, 2003 Astyanax turmalinensis Triques, Vono & Caiafa, 2003 Astyanax unitaeniatus Garutti, 1998 Astyanax utiariti Bertaco & Garutti, 2007 Astyanax validus Géry, Planquette & Le Bail, 1991 Astyanax varzeae Abilhoa & Duboc, 2007 Astyanax venezuelae L. P. Schultz, 1944 Astyanax vermilion Zanata & Camelier, 2009 Astyanax villwocki Zarske & Géry, 1999 Astyanax xavante Garutti & Venere, 2009

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Astyanax (genus)

Wikispecies has information related to: Astyanax

1. ^ de Lucena (2003), Nelson (2006)
2. ^ FishBase (2006)
3. ^ de Lucena (2003)
4. ^ Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2012). Species of Astyanax in FishBase. October 2012 version.
5. ^ ^{a b c d e} Garavello; Sampaio (2010). "Five new species of genus Astyanax Baird & Girard, 1854 from Rio Iguaçu, Paraná, Brazil (Ostariophysi, Characiformes, Characidae)". Brazilian Journal of Biology 70 (3): 847–865. http://www.scielo.br/pdf/bjb/v70n3s0/16.pdf.
6. ^ Tagliacollo, V.A.; R. Britzke, G.S.C. Silva, & R.C. Benine (2011). "Astyanax pirapuan: a new characid species from the upper Rio Paraguay system, Mato Grosso, Central Brazil (Characiformes, Characidae)". Zootaxa 2749: 40–46. http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2011/f/z02749p046f.pdf.

• de Lucena, Carlos Alberto Santos (2003): New characid fish, Hyphessobrycon scutulatus, from the rio Teles Pires drainage, upper rio Tapajós system (Ostariophysi: Characiformes: Characidae). Neotropical Ichthyology 1(2): 93-96. PDF fulltext
• Nelson, Joseph S. (2006): Fishes of the World. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN 0-471-25031-7