Saber-toothed tetra

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Saber-toothed tetra
Rhaphiodon vulpinus.jpg

Saber-toothed tetra ( Rhaphiodon vulpinus )

Systematics
Sub-cohort : Ostariophysi
Otophysa
Order : Tetras (Characiformes)
Family : Wolf tetra (Cynodontidae)
Genre : Rhaphiodon
Type : Saber-toothed tetra
Scientific name of the  genus
Rhaphiodon
Agassiz in Spix & Agassiz, 1829
Scientific name of the  species
Rhaphiodon vulpinus
Spix & Agassiz, 1829

The Säbelzahnsalmler or Biara ( Rhaphiodon vulpinus ) belongs to the family of cynodontidae (Cynodonidae) and in South America spread.

Systematics

For the species Rhaphiodon vulpinus (Agassiz, 1829) there were scientific names that are no longer used today: Hydropardus rapax (Reinhardt, 1849) or Cynodon vulpinus (Cuvier, 1829). Cuvier originally classified the species in the Hydrocyon genus. Other names were Raphiodon vulpinus (Müller & Troschel, 1844), Cynodon vupinus (Eigenmann, 1891), Rhaphiodon vulpinum (Eigenmann and Allen, 1942), Rhaphiodontichthys vulpinus (listed in "Species of Venezuela" by Campos, 1945) and Rhaphiodontichthys vulpinus ( Machado-Allison, 1987). Some authors group the Cynodonidae only as a sub-family of tetras one. Its local naming in Portuguese such as Dentudo, Cachorra-facão, Peixe-Cachorro or Saranha, as well as in Spanish such as Dientudo Blanco, Payará Machete, Pirayaguá allude to its sharp dog teeth or are combinations of sardine and piranha.

distribution

Rhaphiodon vulpinus occurs in the catchment area of ​​large slow-flowing lowland rivers such as the Amazon in Ecuador , the Rio Xingú in Brazil , the Río Ucayali in Peru , the Orinoco in Venezuela , the Río Paraná in Argentina , the Río Paraguay in Paraguay or the Río Uruguay in Uruguay . The southernmost distribution area is on the Río de la Plata in Argentina. Smaller populations are found in the Essequibo and Rio Rupununi rivers in Guiana .

morphology

In 1994 Buckup and Petry examined the characteristic teeth of the Rhaphiodon vulpinus , which were already pronounced in the larval stage. The presence of three rows of teeth, which develop in juvenile fish, describes the family of the Cynodontinae . Rhaphiodon vulpinus is distinguished from other Cynodontinae by the long, streamlined body and the large dorsal fin in the rear third of the body. Specimens that were caught in the black water of the Rio Negros show a much lighter color.

Way of life

Saber-toothed tetra grow up to 80 centimeters long and live pelagic in fresh water. Their predatory behavior is characteristic. The reproductive biology of the species in the Rio Tocatins has been studied in more detail.

use

Rhaphiodon vulpinus and Hydrolycus scomberoides are aquarium fish that are regularly exported from Peru. Because of its size, the saber-toothed tetra is often fished. As a food fish, it has only a very subordinate role.

literature

  • Mônica Toledo-Piza: The Neotropical Fish Subfamily Cynodontinae (Teleostei: Ostariophysi: Characiformes): A Phylogenetic Study and a Revision of Cynodon and Rhaphiodon. Published by American Museum of Natural History, New York 2000.
  • Mônica Toledo-Piza, Menezes, A. Naércio, G. Mendes dos Santos: Revision of the neotropical fish genus Hydrolycus (Ostariophysi: Cynodontinae) with the description of two new species. Published by Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwaters, 1999, vol. 10, no. 3, pp. 255-280.
  • Jacques Géry: Characoides of the World. TFH Publications, New Jersey 1977, pp. 299-302 NJ.
  • K. Arendt: Saber-toothed tetra - impressive predators in the aquarium. TI Magazine No. 133, Feb. 1997, pp. 9-15.
  • K. Arendt: The tooth reproduction of the saber-tooth tetra. BSSW Report No. 1/98, pp. 8-13.
  • Günther Sterba: Freshwater fish in the world. Weltbild Verlag, Augsburg 2002, ISBN 3-89350-991-7 .

Web links

Commons : Saber-toothed tetra ( Rhaphiodon vulpinus )  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Saber-toothed tetra on Fishbase.org (English)
  2. ↑ sometimes also called Vampire barracuda
  3. ↑ a b c d http://www.angelfire.com/biz/piranha038/rhaphiodon.html
  4. ↑ a b http://www.aqua-terra-net.de/Hydro/Sonder/salmler/Saebelzahnsalmler.htm
  5. ^ PA Buckup and P. Petry: Phylogenetic significance of larval extra-oral teeth in the neotropical Cynodontinae ( Characiformes , Ostariophysi ), unpublished abstracts of the 74th annual meeting of the Am. Soc. Ichthyol. Herpetol, 1994
  6. ↑ Reproductive biology of Rhaphiodon vulpinus (Ostariophysi: Cynodontidae) in the Tocantins River Basin, Brazil in http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S1679-62252007000400007&script=sci_arttext