Makunaima

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Makunaima
Astyanax guaporensis illustration (1917).jpg
1917 illustration of Makunaima guaporensis, the type species
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Characiformes
Family: Acestrorhamphidae
Subfamily: Megalamphodinae
Genus: Makunaima
Terán, Benitez & Mirande, 2020 [1]
Type species
Astyanax guaporensis

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.

Contents

Taxonomy and systematics

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]

Etymology

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]

Species

Makunaima contains the following valid species: [3]

Distribution

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]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Megalamphodinae". Catalog of Fishes . California Academy of Sciences . Retrieved 10 October 2025.
  2. 1 2 Guillermo E. Terán; Mauricio F. Benitez; J. Marcos Mirande (2020). "Opening the Trojan horse: phylogeny of Astyanax, two new genera and resurrection of Psalidodon (Teleostei: Characidae)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 190 (4): 1217–1234. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaa019.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Makunaima". Catalog of Fishes . California Academy of Sciences . Retrieved 10 October 2025.
  4. ↑ Christopher Scharpf (3 October 2025). "Family ACESTRORHAMPHIDAE Eigenmann 1907 (American Tetras)". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf. Retrieved 10 October 2025.
  5. ↑ 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 9 October 2025.
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