Acanthognathus is a genus of ant

Ant

Ants are social insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors in the mid-Cretaceous period between 110 and 130 million years ago and diversified after the rise of flowering plants. More than...

s that are found in tropical Central

Central America

Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...

 and South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

. They are reddish in colour and have long trap-jaws that can be compared to those of Odontomachus

Odontomachus

Odontomachus is a genus of carnivorous ants found in the tropics and subtropics throughout the world.-Overview:Commonly known as trap-jaw ants, species in Odontomachus have a pair of large, straight mandibles capable of opening 180 degrees...

. These predatory ants live in small colonies

Ant colony

An ant colony is an underground lair where ants live, eat and mate. Colonies consist of a series of underground chambers, connected to each other and the surface of the earth by small tunnels. There are rooms for nurseries, food storage, and mating...

 that typically consist of less than 30 adults.

Mistakenly, the name Acanthognathus was re-used by German ichthyologist G. Duncker in 1912 for a genus of Syngnathid fish, but that is invalid as it is a junior homonym. These are now placed in either Dunckerocampus or Doryrhamphus

Doryrhamphus

Doryrhamphus and Dunckerocampus, popularly known as flagtail pipefish, are two genera of fishes in the Syngnathidae family. They are found in warm, relatively shallow waters of the Indo-Pacific, with a single species, D. paulus, in the eastern Pacific...

, as the former sometimes is considered a subgenus of the latter. To further confuse, a genus of Nemesiid

Nemesiidae

The Nemesiidae are a spider family of the infraorder Mygalomorphae, and the only member of the superfamily Nemesioidea. They were formerly considered part of the Dipluridae family.-Description:...

 spiders, Acanthogonatus, is frequently misspelled Acanthognathus.

Species

• Acanthognathus brevicornis M. R. Smith, 1944
• Acanthognathus lentus Mann, 1922
• Acanthognathus ocellatus Mayr, 1887
• †Acanthognathus poinari Baroni Urbani, 1994 – fossil
  Fossil
  Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
  
  .
• Acanthognathus rudis Brown & Kempf, 1969
• Acanthognathus stipulosus Brown & Kempf, 1969
• Acanthognathus teledectus Brown & Kempf, 1969