Curimatidae is a family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 of freshwater fishes, known as the toothless characins of the order

Order (biology)

In scientific classification used in biology, the order is# a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family...

 Characiformes

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:...

. They originate from southern Costa Rica

Costa Rica

Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....

 to northern Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

. The family has around 95 species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

, many of them frequently exploited for human consumption. They are closely related to the Prochilodontidae

Prochilodontidae

The Prochilodontidae, or flannel-mouthed characins, are a small family of fishes found primarily in the northern half of South America, south to Paraguay and northern Argentina...

.

This family lacks jaw teeth, although they do sometimes have small teeth on the pharyngeal

Pharynx

The human pharynx is the part of the throat situated immediately posterior to the mouth and nasal cavity, and anterior to the esophagus and larynx. The human pharynx is conventionally divided into three sections: the nasopharynx , the oropharynx , and the laryngopharynx...

 plates. They are eat films of slime coating underwater surfaces, which consist largely of algae

Algae

Algae are a large and diverse group of simple, typically autotrophic organisms, ranging from unicellular to multicellular forms, such as the giant kelps that grow to 65 meters in length. They are photosynthetic like plants, and "simple" because their tissues are not organized into the many...

, with some fungi and microscopic animals.

Classification

The family has eight genera

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 and around a hundred species:

Family Curimatidae

• Curimata
  Curimatá
  Curimatá is a town and municipality in the state of Piauí in the Northeast region of Brazil.-References:...
  
  (13 species)
• Curimatella (5 species)
• Curimatopsis (5 species)
• Cyphocharax (35 species)
• Potamorhina (5 species)
• Psectogaster (8 species)
• Pseudocurimata (6 species)
• Steindachnerina (22 species)