FIN/SEED/FRUIT EATING PIRANHAS OR CARIBITOS

genus Pristobrycon

Eigenmann 1915

Etymology:

Greek, pristis = saw + Greek, bryko = to bite

 

 

FROM FRANK MAGALLANES

Updated: August 1, 2007

Present study (Freeman, et al.) suggests creating a new genus and placing Pristobrycon striolatus as the type. P. striolatus does not have ectopterygoid (palatine teeth) or a preanal spine. Also considered being placed with P. striolatus is P. careospinus and P. maculipinnis. 

The other remaining members of this PRESENT genus do have the ectopterygoid teeth and preanal spine. The suggestion is these species that do have the preanal spine should be moved into genus Serrasalmus. But that maybe problematic because of the teeth and other structural problems. The use of the tree in that paper may have its own inherent problems. Strongly suggest hobbyists not draw any conclusions based on that work until more work is produced to better evaluate the situation.

Hobbyists and researchers are also reminded that some species have been added and removed several times by historical ichthyologists in this genus. A good example is Serrasalmus eigenmanni. This species has been added and replaced in Pristobrycon and Serrasalmus. It has not been resolved to this day because there are nominal species named in different countries that are problematic. 

 

 

  INTRODUCTION

V. Genus Pristobrycon gen.nov.

Eigenmann: The Serrasalminae and Mylinae, pg. 245-248

Type, *Pygocentrum calmoni; Steindachner.

Intermediate in technical characters between the fierce Rooseveltiella without palatine teeth, and the less blood-thirsty Serrasalmo, with a series of permanent teeth along the palate. They are the least  destructive of the piranhas. Head short and deep, the snout short; palate with few or no teeth in the adult, the teeth sometimes, as in aureus, more fully developed in the young; cheeks only partly armed; mouth rather narrow, the upper jaw not very oblique, the lower jaw not very prominent.

The Species of Pristobrycon

Eigenmann placed four species in his new generic ranking. The genus included P. scapularis (Günther), P. aureus (Agassiz), P. calmoni (Steindachner) and P. striolatus (Steindachner).

Palatine teeth

  1. Pristobrycon scapularis, it was noted by Eigenmann; palatines roughened more or less and with tooth-like tubercle. 

  2. Pristobrycon aureus, nothing was mentioned about lack or presence of palatine teeth.

  3. Pristobrycon calmoni, palate with one or two teeth.

  4. Pristobrycon striolatus; known only from the types, 180-200mm, long, coming from tributaries of the Rio Pará. No information given.

* Spelling error in the manuscript

Norman (1929), later would  consider Eigenmann's work and revised Pristobrycon as a synonym of Serrasalmus. He did recognize differences (i.e., S. scapularis, S. serrulatus, S. striolatus, and S. calmoni) in other species but chose instead to keep the division. With Pristobrycon striolatus, the one species not fully reviewed by Eigenmann in his placement above, Norman found palatines sometimes roughened, but without teeth (page 795, Fishes of the Serrasalmoninae, Norman 1928).

Géry (1972:210) treated Pristobrycon like a subgenus with vague characters to differentiate the species including; high backed, discoid formed, with small scales covering the fleshly part of the dorsal and anal fin. He included other characters pertaining to the size of the mouth not dissimilar from Eigenmann (1915). Géry also disputed the validity of certain new species and decided that only 4 species were valid (i.e., calmoni, striolatus, aureus and serrulatus). These last two included two subspecies; aureus-gymnogenys and serrulatus-scapularis. The rest of the species he considered them synonyms. Géry offered the best yet placement of cataloged species from the Guyana.

  Machado-Allison (1982a, 1983, and 1985) discusses the validity of the genera in this subfamily using Phylogenetic analysis concluding that this genus is more closely related to Serrasalmus than with any another group of the subfamily.

In the manuscript; Los Peces Caribes de Venezuela (Machado-Allison and Fink, 1996) a new key was proposed for Pristobrycon, pg. 7:

3a. Cabeza robusta con el perfil dorsal convexo. Ancho de la cabeza (12.5-18.9, usualmente 15.5% del largo estándar). Sierras prepélvicas 15-20 (usualmente 17). Dientes ectopterigoideos ausentes en juveniles y adultos.

[trans: Robust head, convex dorsal profile. Wide head (12.5-18.9 usually 15.5% of the standard length). Serrae prepélvicas 15-20 (usually 17). Ectopterygoid teeth absent in young and adult.]

 

S. serrulatus, P. striolatus, and P. eigenmanni are very similar appearing species. Body shapes are very close and delineating the species is difficult since body spotting may appear similar depending on ontogeny. The ontogeny of the species when juvenile run almost parallel with S. irritans because of the elongated body and the dark 'V' on the base of the caudal peduncle (hypural margin). The problem's I have encountered in distinguishing the species is the body shape. All of these species are discoid and most possess a small humeral spot. In small sizes, they also resemble some Serrasalmus species. It is presently unknown, if the presence of a humeral spot (or lack of) has anything to do with water conditions that might effect the pigment on the flank or belly coloration. It is known that Pygocentrus nattereri is found in a variety of colors, depending on several factors in relation to geography as is S. rhombeus. It would seem plausible that the same may hold true of these other types of serrasalmin. Another form of Pristobrycon is P. calmoni. The species calmoni lacks the bars and stripes common to Serrasalmus (Pristobrycon) eigenmanni.

Three new species of piranha have been discovered, two of them being Pristobrycon. They are P. maculipinnis and P. careospinus. Pristobrycon, with the exception of P. striolatus, forms a clade with Serrasalmus gouldingi that is the sister group to the Serrasalmus-Pygocentrus clade (Guillermo Orti).

HISTORICAL STUDY

Pristobrycon Eigenmann 1915:245. Masc. Serrasalmo (Pygocentrus) calmoni Steindachner 1908. Type by original designation. Synonym of Serrasalmus Lacepède 1803, but a valid subgenus -- (Géry 1972:210, Géry 1976:52, Géry 1977:278. Valid as Pristobrycon Eigenmann 1915 -- (Taphorn 1992:305). Pristobrycon Eigenmann 1915. Characidae: Serrasalminae.

CURRENT SPECIES LISTING - 2007

P. aureus

P. calmoni

P. careospinus

P. maculipinnis

P. striolatus

 

COUNTRY RANGE - 2007

BRAZIL

P. aureus

P. calmoni

P. striolatus

FRENCH GUIANA

P. striolatus

GUYANA

P. aureus

P. calmoni

P. striolatus

SURINAME

P. striolatus

VENEZUELA

P. calmoni

P. careospinus

P. maculipinnis

P. striolatus

 

REFERENCES

  1. Eigenmann, C. H.   1915 (Mar.) The Serrasalminae and Mylinae. Ann. Carnegie Mus. v. 9 (nos. 3-4): 226-272, Pls. 44-58.

  2. Géry, J.   1972 (19 Dec.) Poissons characoïdes des Guyanes. I. Généralités. II. Famille des Serrasalmidae. Zool. Verh. (Leiden) No. 122: 1-250, Pls. 1-16.

  3. Géry, J.   1976 (18 Mar.) Les genres de Serrasalmidae (Pisces, Characoidei). Bull. Zool. Mus. Univ. Amst. v. 5 (no. 6): 47-54.

  4. Géry, J.   1977 Characoids of the world. T. F. H. Publications, Neptune City, New Jersey. Characoids World: 1-672.

  5. MACHADO-ALLISON, Antonio and FINK, William., 1996 - Los Peces Caribes de Venezuela, Diagnosis, Claves, Aspectos Ecologicos Y Evolutivos, pg. 29-31.

  6. FINK, William and MACHADO-ALLISON, Antonio.,  Three new species of piranhas from Brazil and Venezuela. Ichthyological Explorations of Freshwaters, 3(1):55-71. 1992.

  7. Taphorn, D. C.   1992 The characiform fishes of the Apure River drainage, Venezuela. Biollania Edición Especial - No. 4. Monografias Cientificas del Museo de Ciencias Naturales, UNELLEZ -- Guanara, estado Portuguesa, Venezuela. 1-537.

  8. Freeman, B., Nico, L. G., Ostentoski, M. Jelks, H. J. & Collins, T. M. 2007. Molecular systemics of Serrasalmidae: Deciphering the identities of piranha speceis and unraveling their evolutionary histories. Zootaxa 1484: 1 -38.

 

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UPDATED: 09/21/2007