Astyanax (fish)

Astyanax
Astyanax mexicanus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Characiformes
Family: Acestrorhamphidae
Subfamily: Acestrorhamphinae
Genus: Astyanax
S. F. Baird & Girard, 1854[1]
Type species
Astyanax argentatus
Baird & Girard, 1854[1]
Synonyms[1]

Astyanax is a genus of freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Acestrorhamphidae, the American characins.[1] Some of these fish, like many of their relatives, are kept as aquarium pets and known collectively as tetras. With around 150 described species and new ones being described yearly,[2] this genus is among the largest of the entire order; Hyphessobrycon also has more than 145 species and which one is larger at any one time depends on whether more species have been recently described in one or the other. The blind and colorless cave tetra of Mexico is a famous member of the genus, but its taxonomic position is disputed: Some recognize it as part of the Mexican tetra (A. mexicanus) and this is supported by phylogenetic evidence,[3][4][5][6][7] but others recognize the cave form as a separate species, A. jordani.[2]

The type species is A. argentatus,[1] which was formerly regarded as a synonym of A. mexicanus.[8] The generic name comes from Astyanax, a character in Greek mythology, who was the son of Hector of Troy; a reference to the large silver scales of the type species, resembling armor.[9]

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. The results of 2020 study using a combination of molecular and morphological data appeared to confirm that Astyanax is not monophyletic and suggested the creation of two new genera and the resurrection of Psalidodon.[10]

Species

A. abramis
A. argyrimarginatus
A. bimaculatus
A. lacustris
A. mexicanus (blind cave form)
A. validus

Astyanax contains the following valid species:[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Fricke, Ron; Eschmeyer, William N. & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Acestrorhamphidae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 9 November 2025.
  2. ^ a b Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Species in genus Astyanax". FishBase. October 2016 version.
  3. ^ Jeffery W (2009). "Regressive evolution in Astyanax cavefish". Annu. Rev. Genet. 43: 25–47. doi:10.1146/annurev-genet-102108-134216. PMC 3594788. PMID 19640230.
  4. ^ Dowling TE, Martasian DP, Jeffery WR (2002). "Evidence for multiple genetic forms with similar eyeless phenotypes in the blind cavefish, Astyanax mexicanus". Mol. Biol. Evol. 19 (4): 446–455. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a004100. PMID 11919286.
  5. ^ Bradic, Martina; Beerli, Peter; García-de León, Francisco J; Esquivel-Bobadilla, Sarai; Borowsky, Richard L (2012). "Gene flow and population structure in the Mexican blind cavefish complex (Astyanax mexicanus)". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 12 (1): 9. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-12-9. PMC 3282648. PMID 22269119.
  6. ^ Strecker U, Faúndez VH, Wilkens H (2004). "Phylogeography of surface and cave Astyanax (Teleostei) from Central and North America based on cytochrome b sequence data". Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 33 (2): 469–481. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2004.07.001. PMID 15336680.
  7. ^ Keene; Yoshizawa; McGaugh (2016). Biology and Evolution of the Mexican Cavefish. Elsevier Science. pp. 77–87. ISBN 978-0-12-802148-4.
  8. ^ a b Fricke, Ron; Eschmeyer, William N. & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Astyanax". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 9 November 2025.
  9. ^ Christopher Scharpf (3 October 2025). "Family ACESTRORHAMPHIDAE Eigenmann 1907 (American Tetras)". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Retrieved 9 November 2025.
  10. ^ Guillermo E. Terán; Mauricio F. Benitez; J. Marcos Mirande (2020). "Opening the Trojan horse: phylogeny of Astyanax, two new genera and resurrection of Psalidodon (Teleostei: Characidae)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 190 (4): 1217–1234. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaa019.
allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astyanax_(fish)