Vintage Boots: Characidae

Tuesday, 14 August 2012

Characidae

The Characidae, characids or characins are a family of freshwater subtropical and tropical fish, belonging to the order Characiformes. The name "characins" is the historical one^[2], but scientists today tend to prefer "characids" to reflect their status as a by and large monophyletic group at family rank. To arrive there, this family has undergone much systematic and taxonomic change. Among those fishes that remain in the Characidae for the time being are the tetras, comprising the very similar genera Hemigrammus and Hyphessobrycon, as well as a few related forms such as thecave and neon tetras. Fish of this family are important as food and also include popular aquarium fish species.^[3]