Distichodontidae

Distichodontidae
Distichodus maculatus
Scientific classification Edit this 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.

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. 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.

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).

Genera

Distichodontidae contains the following genera:

The following cladogram is based on a 2013 genetic study of Citharinoidei:

Citharinidae

Citharinus

Distichodontidae

References

  1. 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)
  2. ↑ 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
  3. ↑ Matthes, H. (1961). Feeding Habit of Some Central African Freshwater Fishes. Nature 192: 78–80.
  4. ↑ 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
  5. ↑ 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.
  6. ↑ 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.
  7. ↑ 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.