The Lebiasinidae are 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

Freshwater

Fresh water is naturally occurring water on the Earth's surface in ice sheets, ice caps, glaciers, bogs, ponds, lakes, rivers and streams, and underground as groundwater in aquifers and underground streams. Fresh water is generally characterized by having low concentrations of dissolved salts and...

 fishes found in 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....

, Panama

Panama

Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...

, 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 usually small and are known as ornamental fishes in aquaria

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...

, including popular fishes such as the pencil fish

Pencil Fish

Nannostomus is a genus of fish belonging to the Lebiasinidae family of Characins. All of the species in this genus are known as Pencil Fish or Pencilfish, several of which have become popular aquarium fish due to their attractive coloration, unique shape and interesting demeanor.-Taxonomy:The...

 and splashing tetra.

Lebiasinids are small, cylindrical fish, ranging from 2 centimetre (0.78740157480315 in) to 7 centimetres (2.8 in) in adult length. They prey on insect larvae, especially those of mosquito

Mosquito

Mosquitoes are members of a family of nematocerid flies: the Culicidae . The word Mosquito is from the Spanish and Portuguese for little fly...

s. The family includes the voladoras, found in high altitude lakes in the Andes

Andes

The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...

 and Central America, but the other species are lowland fish inhabiting the Orinoco, Amazon, and Paraguay river basins.

Genera

There are seven 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 approximately 64 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...

; Derhamia is not assigned to either of the two subfamilies Lebiasininae or Pyrrhulininae.

Family Lebiasinidae

• Subfamily Lebiasininae - Voladoras
  • Genus Lebiasina (9 species)
  • Genus Piabucina (9 species)
• Subfamily Pyrrhulininae
  • Tribe Pyrrhulinini
    • Genus Copeina (2 species)
    • Genus Copella
      Copella (genus)
      Copella is a genus of freshwater fish belonging to the Family Lebiasinidae, native to South America, known colloquially to aquarists as Splashing Tetras or Splash Tetras, because of the unique reproductive method of the best-known representative of the genus, Copella arnoldi...
      
      (9 species)
    • Genus Pyrrhulina (18 species)
  • Tribe Nannostomini - Pencilfishes
    • Genus Nannostomus (16 species)
• Incertae sedis
  Incertae sedis
  , is a term used to define a taxonomic group where its broader relationships are unknown or undefined. Uncertainty at specific taxonomic levels is attributed by , , and similar terms.-Examples:*The fossil plant Paradinandra suecica could not be assigned to any...
  
  
  • Genus Derhamia (1 species)

External links

• Nelson, Joseph S. (2006). Fishes of the World. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN 0471250317