The Crenuchidae, or crenuchids, are a family of freshwater fish of the order Characiformes. The 11 genera include about 115 species, though several species are undescribed. These fish are relatively small (usually under in standard length) and originate from eastern Panama and South America. Both subfamilies were previously included in the family Characidae, and were placed in a separate family by Buckup, 1998. Buckup, 1993, revised all genera, except Characidium.Buckup, P.A. 1993. Review of the characidiin fishes (Teleostei: Characiformes), with descriptions of four new genera and ten new species. Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters 4(2):97-154.
They are the only members of the superfamily Crenuchoidea. They are sister to all other members of the suborder Characoidei, and diverged during the Early Cretaceous, prior to the split between the African characins (Alestoidea) and the other South American characins (Erythrinoidea and Characoidea). This suggests that their divergence likely predates the breakup of Gondwana, when the divergence between those groups likely occurred.
Members of the subfamily Characidiinae are known as South American darters due to their superficial resemblance to North American darters, but they are otherwise unrelated.
Taxonomy
The following taxonomy is based on Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes (2025):
Subfamily Crenuchinae Günther, 1864 (sailfin tetras) Crenuchus Günther, 1863 Poecilocharax C. H. Eigenmann, 1909
Subfamily Characidiinae Fowler, 1932 (South American darters) Ammocryptocharax Weitzman & Kanazawa, 1976 Characidium Reinhardt, 1867 Elachocharax Myers, 1927 Klausewitzia Géry, 1965 Leptocharacidium Buckup, 1993 Melanocharacidium Buckup, 1993 Microcharacidium Buckup, 1993 Odontocharacidium Buckup, 1993 Skiotocharax Presswell, Weitzman & Bergquist, 2000
See also List of fish families
References