Makunaima | |
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1917 illustration of Makunaima guaporensis, the type species | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Characiformes |
Family: | Acestrorhamphidae |
Subfamily: | Megalamphodinae |
Genus: | Makunaima Terán, Benitez & Mirande, 2020 [1] |
Type species | |
Astyanax guaporensis C. H. Eigenmann, 1909 [1] |
Makunaima is a genus of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Acestrorhamphidae, the American tetras. The fishes in this genus are found in South America.
Makunaima was formally proposed as a genus by the Argentine ichthyologists Guillermo Enrique Terán, Mauricio F. Benítez and Juan Marcos Mirande in 2020. The species within this genus were formerly allocated to Astyanax [2] or Moenkhausia . [3] The type species of the genus was designated as Astyanax guaporensis, [1] which was first formally described in 1909 by Carl H. Eigenmann with its type locality given as the Rio Guaporé at Maciel, Brazil. [3] This genus is classified within the subfamily Megalamphodinae, the red tetras, [4] of the American tetra family Acestrorhamphidae within the suborder Characoidei of the order Characiformes. [5]
Etymologically, the genus name alludes to "Makunaima" (also transcribed as "Macunaima" or "Makonaima"), the name of a creator god for various ethnic groups in the Amazon. [2]
Makunaima contains the following valid species: [3]
Makunaima are found in South America where they are occur in the Essequibo, Amazon and Orinoco drainages in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Guyana and Vevezuela; with one species M. pittieri, being endemic to the drainage basin of Lake Valencia in Venezuela. [3]