// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did Makunaima say to its friend? "Leaf me alone.
| Makunaima | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| 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.
Taxonomy and systematics
[edit]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
[edit]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
[edit]Makunaima contains the following valid species:[3]
- Makunaima guaporensis (C. H. Eigenmann, 1911)
- Makunaima guianensis (C. H. Eigenmann, 1909)
- Makunaima multidens (C. H. Eigenmann, 1908)
- Makunaima pittieri (C. H. Eigenmann, 1920)
Distribution
[edit]Makunaima are found in South America, where they 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
[edit]- 1 2 3 Fricke, Ron; Eschmeyer, William N. & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Megalamphodinae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 10 October 2025.
- 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. hdl:11336/142828.
- 1 2 3 4 Fricke, Ron; Eschmeyer, William N. & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Makunaima". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 10 October 2025.
- ↑ Christopher Scharpf (3 October 2025). "Family ACESTRORHAMPHIDAE Eigenmann 1907 (American Tetras)". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf. Retrieved 10 October 2025.
- ↑ 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.
