Cheirodontinae (Buhrnheim, 2006)

Node 233: Cheirodontinae (100 / 100 / 75 / 41)

Genera Acinocheirodon Malabarba & Weitzman , Amazonspinther , Aphyocheirodon Eigenmann , Cheirodon , Cheirodontops Schultz , Compsura Eigenmann , Heterocheirodon , Kolpotocheirodon Malabarba & Weitzman , Macropsobrycon , † Megacheirodon , Nanocheirodon , Odontostilbe , Prodontocharax , Pseudocheirodon Meek & Hildebrand , Saccoderma Schultz , Serrapinnus , and Spintherobolus .

The Cheirodontinae is maybe the best studied subfamily of the Characidae . Its monophyly was cladistically proposed by Malabarba (1998a), supported by the presence of a pseudotympanum between the anterior two ribs, the absence of a humeral spot, the presence of distally expanded teeth with narrow base, and the presence of only one row of premaxillary teeth, which are aligned each other and have similar shapes. The monophyly of this subfamily was corroborated in the unpublished thesis of Bührnheim (2006). Thus, testing the monophyly of this clade is not a primary objective of this paper, and a relatively small sample of the species in this subfamily was included. The composition of this subfamily follows Malabarba (1998a), Bührnheim (2006), and Bührnheim et al. (2008).

Synapomorphies:

1. Lateral ridge of anguloarticular (107): (0> 1) present. Paralleled in in node 191 and in Aphyocharacidium bolivianum and Parecbasis cyclolepis .

2. Abrupt posterior expansion of interopercle (164): (0> 1) present. Paralleled in Apareiodon affinis , Inpaichthys kerri , and Pyrrhulina australis .

3. Relative length of first pelvic-fin ray of adult males (257): (0> 1) extending beyond margin of other rays. Reversed in node 229. Some trees:

4. Form of fourth infraorbital (67): (0> 1) longer dorsoventrally than longitudinally.(k13-14). Reversal of synapomorphy 1 node 200. Paralleled in node 266. Some trees: Paralleled in node 256.

5. Contact between ectopterygoid and anterodorsal region of quadrate (162): (0> 1) absent.(some trees under k9-14). Paralleled in nodes 184 and 242, and in Aphyocharax dentatus , Engraulisoma taeniatum , Prionobrama paraguayensis , and Stichonodon insignis .Some trees:Paralleled in Microschemobrycon casiquiare .

6. Number of gill rakers on first hypobranchial and ceratobranchial (196): (1> 0) 11 or more. (k13-14). Reversal of synapomorphy 5 of node 196. Paralleled in node 237 and in Bryconamericus cf. exodon and B. cf. iheringii . Some trees: Paralleled in Cyanocharax alburnus .