Ctenoluciidae
Family of fishes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ctenoluciidae the pike-characins, is a small family of freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the order Characiformes, the characin-like fishes. The fishes in this genus are found in Panama and South America.
| Ctenoluciidae | |
|---|---|
| |
| Ctenolucius hujeta | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Division: | Teleostei |
| Order: | Characiformes |
| Suborder: | Characoidei |
| Family: | Ctenoluciidae Schultz, 1944[1] |
| Genera | |
|
See text | |
The name of the family is derived from its type genus, Ctenolucius, and combines cteno, from the Greek ktenós meaning "comb", and the Latin lucius, which means "pike".[2]
They have elongated, pike-like bodies, and several sharp and conical teeth. They are relatively large, up to 1 m (3.3 ft) in length, predatory fish.[3]
Some of these fish, such as Ctenolucius hujeta, enter the aquarium fish hobby, often being labeled a "freshwater barracuda" or "freshwater needlefish", descriptions of fish that are both unrelated to members of this family.[citation needed]
Genera
The two genera in this group are:[4]
- Boulengerella C. H. Eigenmann, 1903 (five species)
- Ctenolucius Gill, 1861 (two species)
