Myloplus asterias
| Myloplus asterias | |
|---|---|
| |
| Pará, Brazil | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Characiformes |
| Family: | Serrasalmidae |
| Genus: | Myloplus |
| Species: | M. asterias
|
| Binomial name | |
| Myloplus asterias (J. P. Müller & Troschel, 1844)
| |
| Synonyms[2] | |
| |
Myloplus asterias, the redgill pacu, is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Serrasalmidae, which includes the pacus and piranhas. This fish is found in northern South America.
Taxonomy
[edit]Myloplus asterias was first formally described as Myletes asterias in 1844 by the German zoologists Johannes Peter Müller and Franz Hermann Troschel with its type locality given as the Essequibo River in Guyana.[2] In 1896 Theodore Gill proposed the genus Myloplus and in 1920 David Starr Jordan designated this taxon as the type species of this genus.[3] The genus Myloplus is classified in the subfamily Myleinae,[4] of the family Serrasalmidae,[3] which is classified in the suborder Characoidei of the order Characiformes.[5]
Etymology
[edit]Myloplus asterias is the type species of the genus Myloplus, this taxon was originally proposed as a subgenus of Myletes, this being a name which has been suppressed by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature as a synonym of Alestes. The proposer of this genus, Theodore Gill, did not explain its etymology, it may be a combination of Mylo-, a reference to disk-shaped body and a prefix used for similary shaped fishes in the same family, with plus, which means "more", i.e., another Myleus-like genus. The specific name, asterias, is a Greek word meaning a "starred fish" or "starred bird", what this referred to was not explaind by Müller and Troschel but it may be an allusion to the circular orange spots on the body of this fish.[6]
Description
[edit]Myloplus asterias has a maximum published total length of 25 cm (9.8 in).[7] This species is often confused with M. rubripinnis but by can be distinguished by a number of characteristics of the neurocranial anatomy, connected to the reduced frontal bone. It also differs from M. rubripinnis by certain meristic and morphometric characters, and on having a wide , vertical black band on its eyes.[8]
Distribution and habitat
[edit]Myloplus asteriasis found in the Amazon basin, the Orinoco and the rivers of the northern and eastern Guiana Shield, its range includes Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela. It is found in the main river channels in tehvisv=cinity of rapids and along banks where there is calm water.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Brejão, G.L. (2024). "Myloplus asterias". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2024: e.T164537263A164537295. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2024-2.RLTS.T164537263A164537295.en. Retrieved 30 June 2025.
- ^ a b Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Myloplus". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 30 June 2025.
- ^ a b Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Myloplus". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 30 June 2025.
- ^ Richard van der Laan; William N. Eschmeyer & Ronald Fricke (2014). "Family-group names of recent fishes". Zootaxa. 3882 (2): 1–230. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3882.1.1. PMID 25543675.
- ^ Richard van der Laan; William N. Eschmeyer; Ronald Fricke. "Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes Classification". Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ Christopher Scharpf (11 June 2025). "Family SERRASALMIDAE Bleeker 1859 (Pacus and Piranhas)". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf. Retrieved 30 June 2025.
- ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Myloplus asterias". FishBase. April 2025 version.
- ^ Michel Jégu; Nicolas Hubert & Elizabeth Belmont-Jégu (2004). "Réhabilitation de Myloplus asterias (Müller & Troschel, 1844), espèce-type de Myloplus Gill, 1896 et validation du genre Myloplus Gill (Characidae : Serrasalminae)" (PDF). Cybium (in French). 28 (2): 119–157.
- Jégu, M., 2003. Serrasalminae (Pacus and piranhas). p. 182-196. In R.E. Reis, S.O. Kullander and C.J. Ferraris, Jr. (eds.) Checklist of the Freshwater Fishes of South and Central America. Porto Alegre: EDIPUCRS, Brasil.