The Chilodontidae, or headstanders, are a small family of freshwater characiform

Characiformes

The Characiformes are an order of ray-finned fish, comprising the characins and their allies. Grouped in 18 recognized families, there are a few thousand different species, including the well-known piranha and tetras.-Taxonomy:...

 fishes found in 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...

. This family is closely related to Anostomidae

Anostomidae

The Anostomidae are a family of ray-finned fishes that belong to the order Characiformes. Closely related to the Chilodontidae and formerly included with them, the Anostomidae contain over 140 described species...

 and is sometimes treated as a subfamily, Chilodontinae, within the Anostomidae family.

Chilodontids have colourful markings, making them popular in aquarium

Aquarium

An aquarium is a vivarium consisting of at least one transparent side in which water-dwelling plants or animals are kept. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, marine mammals, turtles, and aquatic plants...

s. They are small fish, all less than 7 centimetres (2.8 in) in adult length, and are distinguished by their habitual head-down postures.

Species

There are 8 species in two genera:

• Genus Caenotropus Günther, 1864.
  • Caenotropus labyrinthicus (Kner, 1858).
  • Caenotropus maculosus (Eigenmann, 1912).
  • Caenotropus mestomorgmatos Vari, Castro and Raredon, 1995.
  • Caenotropus schizodon Scharcansky & de Lucena, 2007.
• Genus Chilodus Müller and Troschel, 1844.
  • Chilodus fritillus Vari and Ortega, 1997.
  • Chilodus gracilis Isbrücker and Nijssen
    Han Nijssen
    Han Nijssen is a Dutch ichthyologist. He is curator at Zoölogisch Museum in Amsterdam.Nijssen has worked extensively with fish from South America, and is the author of several species, e.g. Corydoras weitzmani and Corydoras xinguensis....
    
    , 1988.
  • Chilodus punctatus Müller and Troschel, 1844.
  • Chilodus zunevei Puyo, 1946.