Bunocephalus hertzi, a new banjo catfish from the upper Rio Paraná basin, Brazil (Siluriformes: Aspredinidae), with the redescription of Bunocephalus larai Ihering, 1930.

Bunocephalus hertzi, new species, is described from two tributaries of the upper Rio Paraná basin. Because the type series of B. larai (the only other species of Bunocephalus in the basin) is lost, a redescription of B.

Taxonomic revision and molecular phylogeny of Gymnocorymbus Eigenmann, 1908 (Teleostei, Characiformes, Characidae).

Characidae, one of the most diverse families of Characiformes and one of the largest clades of fishes in the world, has a complex taxonomic background, with one issue being the placement of various genera, including Gymnocorymbus. Herein, we generate the first molecular phylogeny for the genus using three nuclear and two mitochondrial loci and review the systematics of Gymnocorymbus. This genus includes the black tetra, a well-known and popular species among aquarists.

Multilocus molecular phylogeny of Gasteropelecidae (Ostariophysi: Characiformes) reveals the existence of an unsuspected diversity.

The characiform family Gasteropelecidae, the so-called freshwater hatchetfishes, is comprised of three genera and nine species found in Panama and all South American countries except Chile. Our goal was to investigate the molecular characteristics, phylogenetic relationships among the species and genera of Gasteropelecidae and phylogenetic relationships between the Gasteropelecidae family with other Characiformes. DNA fragments from two mitochondrial (16S rRNA and Cytochrome B) and three nuclear genes (Rag1, Rag2 and Myh6) were sequenced.

Anatomy and evolution of the mandibular, hyopalatine, and opercular muscles in characiform fishes (Teleostei: Ostariophysi).

The Characiformes are distributed throughout large portions of the freshwaters of Africa and America. About 90% of the almost 2000 characiform species inhabit the American rivers, with their greatest diversity occurring in the Neotropical region. As in most other groups of fishes, the current knowledge about characiform myology is extremely poor.