Synaptolaemus

Synaptolaemus is a monospecific genus of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Anostomidae, the toothed headstanders. The only species in the genus is Synaptolaemus latofasciatus, a species found in South America.

==Taxonomy== Synaptolaemus was first proposed as a monospecific genus in 1950 by George Sprague Myers and Augustín Fernández-Yépez when they described Synaptolaemus cingulatus as a new species, designating it as the type species. The type locality of S. cingulatus was given as Laja Supira on the upper Orinoco River in Venezuela. In 2011 Leporinus latofasciatus, a species described by Franz Steindachner in 1910, also from the Orinoco, was reclassified as Synaptolaemus latofasciatus. S. cingulatus is now considered to be a synonym of S. latofasciatus and this genus is once again thought to be monospecific. This genus is classified in the subfamily Anostominae of the family Anostomidae, the headstanders, in the suborder Characoidei of the order Characiformes.