genus Metynnis
Metynnis Cope 1878
Palometa, Spotted Metynnis, Silver dollar, Vegetarian Piranha and Guaporé Metynnis
INTRODUCTION
Though Metynnis is called a silver dollar, the data (Patterns of Nucleotide Changes in Mitochondrial Ribosomal RNA Genes and Phylogeny of Piranhas 42: 169-182, Orti, et al. 1996) agrees with the Machado-Allison hypothesis that it in fact closely related to the piranhas clade, not the pacus. In fact it is the basal taxa in the Machado-Allison cladogram. Others include; Mylossoma and some of the species of Myleus, but not all. These fish are loosely called vegetarian piranha, a term that really does not fit these species except for its appearance. This group looks similar to Pygopristis denticulata.
The long adipose fin separates this genus from the rest of the serrasalmin. The classification of the species is inconsistent by the number of taxon names assigned to it. One author (E. Ahl) assigned as many as 20 names to the genus. Metynnis species are found throughout much of tropical South America (e.g., in the Orinoco and Amazon basins). The M. lippincottianus-maculatus complex is native to Guaporé and Amazon basin (Géry 1977).
Historically, the genus Metynnis is a complex problem in placement and identification. Myletes maculatus, Kner 1858:164 [4] [Sitzungsber. Akad. Wiss. Wien v. 32 (no. 22) Rio Guaporé, Mato Grosso, Brazil. Lectotype: NMW 56396. Paralectotypes: BMNH 1928.1.24.10 [ex NMW] (1); NMW 56408 (1), 56410 (1), 56415 (1). Lectotype selected by Zarske & Géry 1999:176. Appeared in more detail in Kner 1860:26 [18 in separate], Pl. 2 (fig. 5). According to Eschmeyer, Jégu in Reis et al. 2003:190 has confused the original genus of this species with the species appearing on p.166 in Kner 1858. •Valid as Metynnis maculatus (Kner 1858) -- (Ortega & Vari 1986:8. Gómez & Chebez 1996:52. Zarske and Géry 1999:176. Britski et al. 1999:60. Lasso et al. 2001:96,Jégu in Reis et al. 2003:184. Valid as Metynnis maculatus (Kner 1858).
CURRENT VALID SPECIES LIST WITH DISTRIBUTION - 2011
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1. Metynnis altidorsalis Ahl 1923 North and E. Guiana Shield rivers: French Guiana, Guyana and Suriname
2. Metynnis argenteus Ahl 1923 Tapajós river basin, Brazil
3. Metynnis cuiaba Pavanelli, Ota & Petry 2009 Upper Rio Paraguay basin, in Cuiabá and Manso river drainages, including lakes (baias) in the Pantanal, Mato Grosso State, Central Brazil. Species is sexually dimorphic
4. Metynnis fasciatus Ahl 1931 Capiuru river basin in middle Amazon R. drainage, Brazil
5. Metynnis guaporensis Eigenmann 1915 Guaporé river basin: Bolivia (?) and Brazil
6. Metynnis hypsauchen Müller & Troschel 1844 Amazon and Paraguay river. basins and N. Guiana Shield rivers: Bolivia, Brazil, Guyana and Peru |
7. Metynnis lippincottianus Cope 1870 Amazon river basin and NE. Guiana Shield rivers: Brazil and French Guiana
8. Metynnis longispinnis Zarske & Géry, 2008 Casiquiare River drainage, Venezuela
9. Metynnis luna Cope 1878 Amazon river basin, Peru
10. Metynnis maculatus Kner 1858 Amazon and Paraguay R. basins: Bolivia (?), Brazil, Paraguay (?) and Peru (?)
11. Metynnis mola Eigenmann & Kennedy 1903 Paraguay-Paraná river basin: Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay
12. Metynnis orinocensis Steindachner 1908 Orinoco river basin, Venezuela |
13. Metynnis otuquensis Ahl 1923 Otuquis river in Paraguay river basin and Paraná river basin: Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay
14. Metynnis polystictus Zarske & Géry, 2008 Upper Zingu River, Brazil |
PHOTO REFERENCES:
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Jeff Dubosc: www.eau.douce.free.fr
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Fish base: http://www.fishbase.org
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Paulo Petry Bio-Amazonia.
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All other photos marked with ownership.
REFERENCES
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Eigenmann, C. H. 1915. The Serrasalminae and Mylinae. Annals of the Carnegie Museum. 9:226-272.
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Géry, J. 1972. Poissons characoides des Guyanes. I. Generalites. II. Famille des Serrasalmidae. Zoologische Verhandelingen:267.
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Norman, F. Z. S. 1929. The South American Characid Fishes of the Subfamily Serrasalminae, with a revision of the Genus Serrasalmus Lacepede. Proceeding Zoological Society of London. 1928 (pt4) (n. 30):781-829.
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Machado-Allison, A. 1982. Estudio sobre la subfamilia Serrasalminae (Teleostei, Characidae). Prte 1. Estudio comparado de los juveniles de las "cachamas" de Venezuela (generos Colossoma y Piaractus). Acta Biologica Venezuelica 11(3):1-101.
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Axelrod, H. R., W. E. Burgess, N. Pronek, and J. G. Walls. 1985. Dr. Axelrod's atlas of freshwater aquarium fishes. Tropical Fish Hobbyist Publications, Inc., Neptune City, NJ.
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Géry, J. 1977. Characoids of the world. Tropical Fish Hobbyist Publications, Inc., Neptune City, NJ.
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Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2002. FishBase.
World Wide Web electronic publication. 13 November 2002 -
Ahl, E. 1923. Eine Revision de Characiniden-Gattung Metynnis. Ichthyologische Mitteilungen, 11(1): 15-31.
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Calcagnotto, D., S. A. Schaefer & R. DeSalle. 2005. Relationships among characiform fishes inferred from analysis of nuclear and mitochondrial gene sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 36: 135-153.
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Freeman, B., L. G. Nico, M. Osentoski, H. L. Jelks & T. M. Collins. 2007. Molecular systematic of Serrasalmidae: Deciphering the identities of piranha species and unraveling their evolutionary histories. Zootaxa, 1484: 1-38.
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Géry, J. 1972. Poissons Characoïdes des Guyanes. I Généralités. II. Famille des Serrasalmidae. Zoologische Verhandelingen, 122: 1-250.
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Géry, J. 1979. The Serrasalmidae (Pisces, Characoidei) from the Serra do Roncador, Mato Grosso, Brazil. Amazoniana, 6(4): 475-478.
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Gosline, W. A. 1951. Notes on the characid fishes of the Subfamily Serrasalminae. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, 27(2): 17-61.
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Jégu, M. 2003. Subfamily Serrasalminae. Pp. 182-184. In: Reis, R. E., S. O. Kullander & C. J. Ferraris Jr. (Eds.). Check list of the freshwater fishes of South and Central America. Porto Alegre, Edipucrs, 729p.
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Jégu, M. & L. F. S. Ingenito. 2007. Serrasalminae. Pp. 40-43. In: Buckup, P. A., N. A. Menezes & M. S. Ghazzi (Eds.). Catálogo das espécies de peixes de água doce do Brasil. Rio de Janeiro, Museu Nacional, 195p.
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Langeani, F., R. M. C. Castro, O. T. Oyakawa, O. A. Shibatta, C. S. Pavanelli & L. Casatti. 2007. Diversidade da ictiofauna do alto rio Paraná: composição atual e perspectivas futuras. Biota Neotropica, 7(3): 1-17.
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Ortí, G., A. Sivasundar, K. Dietz & M. Jégu. 2008. Phylogeny of the Serrasalmidae (Characiformes) based on mitochondrial DNA sequences. Genetics and Molecular Biology, 31(1): 343-351.
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Veríssimo, S., C. S. Pavanelli, H. A. Britski & M. M. M. Moreira. 2005. Fishes from the Manso Reservoir region of influence, rio Paraguai basin, Mato Grosso State, Brazil. Check List, 1(1): 1-9.
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Zarske, A. & J. Géry. 1999. Revision der neotropischen Gattung Metynnis Cope, 1878. Evaluation der Typusexemplare der nominellen Arten (Teleostei: Characiformes: Serrasalmidae). Zoologische Abhandlungen Staatliches Museum für Tierkunde Dresden, 50(13): 169-216.
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Zarske, A. & J. Géry. 2008. Revision der neotropischen Gattung Metynnis Cope, 1878. Beschreibung zweier neuer Arten und zum Status von Metynnis goeldii Eigenmann, 1903 (Teleostei:Characiformes: Serrasalmidae). Vertebrate Zoology, 58(2): 173-196.
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UPDATED: 12/28/2011