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Bryconops is a genus of freshwater fish in the family Iguanodectidae from South America.[1] Various species of tetra are amongst its ranks, and are sometimes seen in the aquarium trade.

Bryconops
Bryconops caudomaculatus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Characiformes
Family:	Iguanodectidae
Genus:	Bryconops Kner, 1858
Type species
Bryconops alburnoides Kner, 1858

Description

Members of Bryconops are fairly small, reaching just under half a foot at a maximum.[2] B. durbinae, the smallest, reaches 3.1 cm SL (standard length, without the tail fin included), and B. giacopinii, the largest, reaches 18 cm TL (total length, with the tail fin included).[3][4] They usually have scales that are reflective and/or brightly colored, some with visually interesting fins; one example is B. caudomaculatus, which is colloquially known as the tailspot tetra thanks to a conspicuous mark on its caudal fin.[5]

Classification

In the past, Bryconops belonged to the family Characidae, and is still listed there by some sources, like ITIS.[6] Both phylogenetic and morphological evidence has prompted a move to the family Iguanodectidae, alongside the genera Iguanodectes and Piabucus; this was also done to keep Characidae monophyletic.[7] However, while Iguanodectes and Piabucus are considered to make up the subfamily Iguanodectinae, Bryconops makes up a monotypic clade.[8]

There are 21 recognized species in the genus Bryconops.[2] This makes it the largest genus in the family Iguanodectidae; Iguanodectes has 8, and Piabucus has 3.[9][10] It continues to grow into the 21st century, with new species having been described as recently as 2011 (Bryconops piracolina),[11] 2015 (Bryconops munduruku),[12] and 2016 (Bryconops tocantinensis).[13]

In alphabetical order, the species are:

• Bryconops affinis (Günther, 1864) (Orangefin tetra)
• Bryconops alburnoides (Kner, 1858)
• Bryconops caudomaculatus (Günther, 1864) (Tailspot tetra)
• Bryconops colanegra (Chernoff & Machado-Allison, 1999)
• Bryconops colaroja (Chernoff & Machado-Allison, 1999)
• Bryconops collettei (Chernoff & Machado-Allison, 2005)
• Bryconops cyrtogaster (Norman, 1926)
• Bryconops disruptus (Machado-Allison & Chernoff, 1997)
• Bryconops durbinae (C. H. Eigenmann, 1908)
• Bryconops giacopinii (Fernández-Yépez, 1950)
• Bryconops gracilis (C. H. Eigenmann, 1908)
• Bryconops humeralis (Machado-Allison, Chernoff & Buckup, 1996)
• Bryconops imitator (Chernoff & Machado-Allison, 2002)
• Bryconops inpai (Knöppel, Junk & Géry, 1968)
• Bryconops magoi (Chernoff & Machado-Allison, 2005)
• Bryconops melanurus (Bloch, 1794)
• Bryconops munduruku (C. S. de Oliveira, Canto & F. R. V. Ribeiro, 2015)
• Bryconops piracolina (Wingert & L. R. Malabarba, 2011)
• Bryconops tocantinensis (Guedes, E. F. de Oliveira & P. H. F. Lucinda, 2016)
• Bryconops transitoria (Steindachner, 1915)
• Bryconops vibex (Machado-Allison, Chernoff & Buckup, 1996)

History

Upon describing Bryconops alburnoides in 1858, Austrian ichthyologist Rudolf Kner established Bryconops as a new genus.[14] Kner also offered a description of new congener B. lucidum, which has since been synonymized with B. alburnoides.[15] In 1910, German-American ichthyologist Carl H. Eigenmann designated Bryconops alburnoides the type species of the genus.[16] Technically, the earliest member of the genus to be described is Bryconops melanurus, which was originally classified as Salmo melanurus by German naturalist Marcus Elieser Bloch in the year 1764.[17][18]

Etymology

The genus name Bryconops originates from the genus Brycon and the Greek suffix "-ops", which means "appearance" or "resemblance". This is because Kner noted visual similarities between members of the two genera upon description.[19] In turn, the genus name Brycon originates from the Greek "bryko", which means "to bite" or "to devour".[5] Fish of the genus Brycon are equipped with a full set of teeth on their maxillaries, making for an apt name.[19]

In Aquaria

Data is limited, but Bryconops colanegra[20] and Bryconops colaroja[21] are known to be taken from the wild for the ornamental fish trade, though neither of them is at risk of going extinct because of it.

References

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