Stevardiinae, Eigenmann, 1909

Node 243: Stevardiinae (74 / 97 / 43 / 9)

Genera Acrobrycon Eigenmann & Pearson , Argopleura , Attonitus , Aulixidens , Boehlkea ?, Bryconacidnus ?, Bryconadenos ?, Bryconamericus , Caiapobrycon ?, Ceratobranchia ?, Chrysobrycon Weitzman & Menezes , Corynopoma Gill , Creagrutus , Cyanocharax , Diapoma , Gephyrocharax Eigenmann , Glandulocauda , Hemibrycon , Hypobrycon ?, Hysteronotus Eigenmann , Iotabrycon Roberts , Knodus , Landonia Eigenmann & Henn , Lophiobrycon , Microgenys ?, Mimagoniates , Monotocheirodon ?, Nantis , Odontostoechus , Othonocheirodus ?, Phallobrycon ?, Phenacobrycon Eigenmann , Piabarchus ?, Piabina , Planaltina Böhlke , Pseudocorynopoma , Pterobrycon Eigenmann , Ptychocharax Weitzman, Fink, Machado-Allison & Royero , Rhinobrycon ?, Rhinopetitia ?, Scopaeocharax Weitzman & Fink , Tyttocharax Fowler , and Xenurobrycon Myers & Miranda Ribeiro.

Géry (1977) included in his tribe Tetragonopterini a group named Hemibrycon and allied genera, based on the presence of only four teeth in the inner premaxillary row. Géry mentioned that this character is usually associated with a great development of the third supraorbital, which reaches the horizontal arm of the preopercle. This group was composed of Boehlkea , Bryconacidnus , Bryconamericus , Carlastyanax , Ceratobranchia , Coptobrycon , Creagrudite , Hemibrycon , Knodus , Microgenys , Nematobrycon , Piabarchus , Rhinobrycon , and Rhinopetitia . All these genera were classified as incertae sedis within the Characidae by Lima et al. (2003). Malabarba & Weitzman (2003) observed that most species of these genera also share the possession of only eight branched dorsal-fin rays. Those authors proposed a putatively monophyletic clade (their clade A) which comprised the members of the Glandulocaudinae of Weitzman (2003) and the incertae sedis genera Attonitus , Boehlkea , Bryconacidnus , Bryconamericus , Caiapobrycon , Ceratobranchia , Creagrutus , Cyanocharax , Hemibrycon , Hypobrycon , Knodus , Microgenys , Monotocheirodon , Odontostoechus , Othonocheirodus , Piabarchus , Piabina , Rhinobrycon , and Rhinopetitia . Weitzman et al. (2005) later described Bryconadenos within this clade, and split the glandulocaudin characids into the subfamilies Glandulocaudinae and Stevardiinae . Ruiz-C. & Román- Valencia (2006) subsequently synonymized Carlastyanax with Astyanax . This clade appears as monophyletic in the molecular phylogeny of Calcagnotto et al. (2005), as composed of the genera Bryconamericus , Creagrutus , Gephyrocharax , Hemibrycon , Knodus , and Mimagoniates . In the present hypothesis this node includes Aulixidens and Nantis , along with the analyzed genera of the clade A of Malabarba & Weitzman (2003). The genus Nantis was described after Malabarba & Weitzman (2003) and in its description some similarities with members of the clade A were mentioned. These include the sharing of only eight branched dorsal-fin rays, but Nantis was considered as incertae sedis because of the possession of five teeth in the inner premaxillary row, instead of four ( Mirande et al., 2004; 2006a). Aulixidens eugeniae was examined by Malabarba & Weitzman (2003), who observed nine branched dorsal-fin rays in this species, differing from the eight rays herein observed. Aulixidens eugeniae is included in this clade even after coding that character as polymorphic for the species. Most genera included in this subfamily lack phylogenetic diagnoses; however all the genera are herein treated as monophyletic, considering the position of their type-species. For example, according to the present analysis, Bryconamericus is not monophyletic, and at least one of its species ( B. scleroparius ) is excluded from the Stevardiinae ; however, as B. exodon , its type-species, is included in the Stevardiinae , this genus is considered as part of it. The genera included in the clade A by Malabarba & Weitzman (2003) but not analyzed here are listed with question marks. All members of the former subfamilies Glandulocaudinae and Stevardiinae are included in this clade because these clades were phylogenetically treated (as the Glandulocaudinae ) by Weitzman & Menezes (1998). The name Stevardiinae Eigenmann, 1909 is used for this clade due to priority over Glandulocaudinae Eigenmann, 1914 and Hemibryconini Géry, 1966. Diapomini Eigenmann, 1909 , although proposed in the same year than Stevardiinae , was a subclade of Stevardiinae prior to Mirande (2009); thus, the latter name is preferred for this clade. In this manner, the subfamily Stevardiinae is herein redefined to include all the genera of the clade A of Malabarba & Weitzman (2003) plus Aulixidens and Nantis .

Synapomorphies:

1. Epiphyseal branch of supraorbital canal (84): (0> 1) absent. Paralleled in Microschemobrycon casiquiare . Reversed in node 253.

2. Number of branched-rays on dorsal-fin (270): (1> 0) eight or fewer. Paralleled in Coptobrycon bilineatus , Hoplocharax goethei , and Piabucus melanostomus . Reversed in node 235.

3. Number of dorsal pterygiophores (276): (1> 0) nine. Paralleled in node 184 and in Hoplocharax goethei and Piabucus melanostomus . Reversed in Mimagoniates rheocharis .