Lebiasinidae
Family of fishes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Lebiasinidae are a family of freshwater fishes found in Costa Rica, Panama, and South America. They are usually small and are known as ornamental fishes in aquaria, including popular fishes such as the various pencilfish and the splashing tetra.
| Lebiasinidae | |
|---|---|
| |
| Nannostomus trifasciatus | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Characiformes |
| Suborder: | Characoidei |
| Family: | Lebiasinidae Gill, 1889[1] |
| Subfamilies | |
|
see text | |
Lebiasinids are small, cylindrical fish, ranging from 2 to 18 cm (0.8 to 7.1 in) in adult length. They prey on insect larvae, especially those of mosquitos. The family includes the voladoras (genera Lebiasina and Piabucina), mostly found in highlands of the north Andes, the Guiana Shield and Central America, but the other species are mainly lowland fish inhabiting the Orinoco, Amazon and Paraguay River basins, and rivers of the Guianas.[2]
Genera
Around 67 species are placed in these genera:[3][4]
- Subfamily Lebiasininae Gill, 1889[1] (lebiasinas or voladoras)
- Derhamia Géry & Zarske, 2002
- Lebiasina Valenciennes, 1847
- Subfamily Pyrrhulininae Bleeker, 1859[1] (splashing tetras and pencilfishes)
- Copeina Fowler, 1906
- Copella Myers, 1956
- Nannostomus Günther, 1872
- Pyrrhulina Valenciennes, 1846