Atherinopsidae Fitzinger 1873

Angulo, Arturo, Betts, Joel T., González-Alemán, Néstor J., Castañeda, Edgar, Berghe, Eric Van Den, Elías, Diego J., Mcmahan, Caleb D. & Matamoros, Wilfredo A., 2023, Continental fishes of Nicaragua: diversity, distribution and conservation status; with an annotated and illustrated checklist of species and an identification guide to families, Zootaxa 5376 (1), pp. 1-89 : 56

Family Atherinopsidae Fitzinger 1873 ( Fig. 4E ). New World Silversides, American Silversides; Pejerreyes Americanos

Description: Body elongate; up to 100 cm in length, but usually less than 20 cm; mouth anterior, opening at the front; upper jaw extendible; small teeth present on both jaws and sometimes on the front of the roof of the mouth; eyes large; lateral line absent; pectoral fin inserted high on body, above the mid-level of the eye; pelvic fin on belly, with one spine and five rays; two well-separated dorsal fins, the first one with 2–9 spines, the second one with one anterior spine; anal fin with one anterior spine; caudal fin forked; body often translucent, with a silvery lateral stripe ( Robertson & Allen 2015, Nelson et al. 2016). Distribution: Marine (pelagic coastal) brackish and freshwater; temperate to tropical North, Central and South America (Nelson et al. 2016). One genus and six species in Nicaraguan freshwaters.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Families of continental fishes of Nicaragua, part 3; Achiridae (A), Carangidae (B), Cichlidae (C), Pomacentridae (D), Atherinopsidae (E), Rivulidae (F), Poeciliidae (G), Anablepidae (H), Belonidae (I), Hemiramphidae (J), Mugilidae (K), Gobiesocidae (L), Dactyloscopidae (M) and Lutjanidae (N). Illustrations adapted (with permission) from Nelson et al. (2016) and Angulo et al. (2021).