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Prochilodontidae
EntityQ522723· pop 24· linked from 15 articles

Prochilodontidae

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The Prochilodontidae, commonly known as the bocachicos or flannel-mouthed characins, are a small family of freshwater fishes found primarily in the northern half of South America, south to Paraguay and northern Argentina. This family is closely related to the Curimatidae, and were included in Characidae before that family was revised and split.

Species

flannel-mouth characiforms

FAMILY

  1. KingdomAnimalia
  2. PhylumChordata
  3. ClassTeleostei
  4. OrderCharaciformes
  5. FamilyProchilodontidae
Habitatfreshwater
Observations recorded149,961

via GBIF

Museum specimens

Specimen records
12
Family
Prochilodontidae
Collections
LACM, MPEG, INHS
Recorded in
Venezuela, Brasil, Brazil

~5 min read

Encyclopedic overview

4 sections
Contents
  • Taxonomy
  • Biology
  • Relation to humans
  • References

The Prochilodontidae, commonly known as the bocachicos or flannel-mouthed characins, are a small family of freshwater fishes found primarily in the northern half of South America, south to Paraguay and northern Argentina. This family is closely related to the Curimatidae, and were included in Characidae before that family was revised and split.

These fish have fleshy lips bearing rows of small teeth; their lips are able to be extended into a sucking disc used to feed on detritus and aufwuchs. They often live in huge schools, traveling upriver to spawn. In their native range, they are a popular food fish, and are caught in large numbers.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Prochilodontidae” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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