| Cheirodontinae | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Cheirodon pisciculus | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Characiformes |
| Family: | Characidae |
| Subfamily: | Cheirodontinae C. H. Eigenmann, 1915 [1] |
| Type genus | |
| Cheirodon [1] | |
| Genera [2] | |
see text | |
Cheirodontinae is a subfamily of freshwater ray-finned fishes, characins, belonging to the family Characidae. The fishes in this genus are found in the Neotropics as far north as Costa Rica and in South America. They are absent from the Pacific drainages of South America except for four species in the genus Cheirodon that are endemic to southern Chile. [3] Some authorities split this subfamily into two tribes, Cheirodontini and Composurini, based on the males' reproductive characteristics. [4] However, later phylogenetic studies found Cheirodontinae to be monophyletic but that the division onto two tribes was not supported. [3]