Pristobrycon
Encyclopedia
Pristobrycon is a genus
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...

 of piranha
Piranha
A piranha or piraña is a member of family Characidae in order Characiformes, an omnivorous freshwater fish that inhabits South American rivers. In Venezuela, they are called caribes...

s.

Pristobrycon contains five species. However, this genus is not monophyletic
Monophyly
In common cladistic usage, a monophyletic group is a taxon which forms a clade, meaning that it contains all the descendants of the possibly hypothetical closest common ancestor of the members of the group. The term is synonymous with the uncommon term holophyly...

. No single morphological feature has been found that completely diagnoses this genus. P. striolatus is very different from other species of this genus.
The genus Pristobrycon was created by Eigenmann (1915:245), to include species which have intermediate characteres between "the fierce Rooseveltiella whithout palatine teeth, and the less blood-thirsty Serrasalmus with a series of permanent teeth along the palatine". The author designed P. calmoni as the type species of the genus. Two groups are included in this genus. One group is characterized by presence of the preanal spine (only P. calmoni) and the other group including the rest of the species assigned (P. careospinus, P. maculipinnis and P. striolatus) (Fink & Machado-Allison, 1992; Machado-Allison et al., 1989; Machado-Allison & Fink, 1996). P. aureus is a controversial species.

Species

  • Pristobrycon aureus (Spix
    Johann Baptist von Spix
    Dr. Johann Baptist Ritter von Spix was a German naturalist.Spix was born in Höchstadt, Middle Franconia, as the seventh of eleven children. His boyhood home is the site of the Spix Museum , opened to the public in 2004...

     & Agassiz
    Louis Agassiz
    Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz was a Swiss paleontologist, glaciologist, geologist and a prominent innovator in the study of the Earth's natural history. He grew up in Switzerland and became a professor of natural history at University of Neuchâtel...

    , 1829)
  • Pristobrycon calmoni
    Pristobrycon calmoni
    Pristobrycon calmoni is a species of fish of the subfamily Serrasalminae which includes the "caribes" or "piranhas".- Habitat :...

    (Steindachner
    Franz Steindachner
    Franz Steindachner was an Austrian zoologist.- Work and career :Being interested in natural history, Steindachner took up the study of fossil fishes on the recommendation of his friend Eduard Suess...

    , 1908)
  • Pristobrycon careospinus
    Pristobrycon careospinus
    Pristobrycon careospinus Fink & Machado-Allison, 1992 is a species of fish of the subfamily Serrasalminae which includes the "caribes" or "pirañas". This species is endemic of Venezuela.- Habitat :...

    Fink & Machado-Allison, 1992
  • Pristobrycon maculipinnis
    Pristobrycon maculipinnis
    Pristobrycon maculipinnis Fink & Machado-Allison, 1992 is a species of fish of the subfamily Serrasalminae which includes the "caribes", "palometas caribe" or "piranhas". This species is endemic of Venezuela.- Habitat :...

    Fink & Machado-Allison, 1992
  • Pristobrycon striolatus
    Pristobrycon striolatus
    Pristobrycon striolatus is a species of fish of the subfamily Serrasalminae which includes the "caribes" or "piranhas".- Range and habitat :...

    (Steindachner
    Franz Steindachner
    Franz Steindachner was an Austrian zoologist.- Work and career :Being interested in natural history, Steindachner took up the study of fossil fishes on the recommendation of his friend Eduard Suess...

    , 1908)
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK