Characidium Reinhardt

Donald C. Taphorn B., Carmen G. Montaña & Paulo Buckup, 2006, Characidium longum (Characiformes: Crenuchidae), a new fish from Venezuela., Zootaxa 1247, pp. 1-12 : 2

[[ Genus Characidium Reinhardt ]]

This new species of Characidium Reinhardt, 1867 , brings the total for the genus to about 50 valid species (Buckup, 2003). All are small fishes, ranging from about 20 to 80 mm SL, and are usually associated with moving water, often in riffle habitats, similar to most North American darter species of the family Percidae. They are members of the family Crenuchidae , the monophyly of which was recently established by Buckup (1993b, 1998), who also established the monophyly of Characidium , although this is supported only by one synapomorphy: a black spot near base of middle caudal fin rays, which is sometimes secondarily lost or modified. Their known distributions extend from Panamá to Argentina. In his review of the family, Buckup (1993a) examined material of this species and all other Venezuelan species available for study, and described several new genera and species: Leptocharacidium omospilum , Ammocryptocharax minutus , Melanocharacidium compressus , M. dispilomma , M. melanopteron , Odontocharacidium aphanes , Microcharacidium gnomus , and Microcharacidium weitzmani . Since this review, no one has worked with the numerous other undescribed Venezuelan species.