| Mimagoniates | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Characiformes |
| Family: | Characidae |
| Subfamily: | Stevardiinae |
| Genus: | Mimagoniates Regan, 1907 |
| Synonyms | |
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Mimagoniates is a genus of characid fish from rivers and streams in southeastern, southern and central-western Brazil, northeastern Argentina, and Paraguay. The individual species generally have relatively small ranges and two, M. lateralis and M. sylvicola, are considered threatened by Brazil's Ministry of the Environment.
Commonly known as croaking tetra or chirping tetra because they can produce sounds, some of these fish were historically included in Glandulocauda and together with Lophiobrycon they form the tribe Glandulocaudini. Mimagoniates have a supplementary breathing organ located above the gills which makes a faint chirping sound when these fish come to the surface to gulp air. It also plays a role in courtship as the male chases and hovers near the female while taking gulps of air and expelling it to make a rhythmic noise. Croaking behavior may have evolved from a behavior called "surface nipping", which occurs when the fish is searching for food. This gulping of air has no useful respiratory function. They are small fish, up to 3–6.1 cm (1.2–2.4 in) in standard length depending on the exact species.
Species
There are currently 7 recognized species in this genus:
- Mimagoniates barberi Regan, 1907
- Mimagoniates inequalis (C. H. Eigenmann, 1911) (Croaking tetra)
- Mimagoniates lateralis (Nichols, 1913)
- Mimagoniates microlepis (Steindachner, 1877) (Blue tetra)
- Mimagoniates pulcher Menezes & S. H. Weitzman, 2009
- Mimagoniates rheocharis Menezes & S. H. Weitzman, 1990
- Mimagoniates sylvicola Menezes & S. H. Weitzman, 1990
References
- ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Species in genus Mimagoniates". FishBase. January 2016 version.
- ^ Thomaz, A.T., Arcila, D., Ortí, G. & Malabarba, L.R. (2015): Molecular phylogeny of the subfamily Stevardiinae Gill, 1858 (Characiformes: Characidae): classification and the evolution of reproductive traits. BMC Evolutionary Biology, (2015) 15: 146.
- ICMBio (Ministry of the Environment, Brazil): Portaria MMA nº 445, de 17 de dezembro de 2014. Lista de Especies Ameaçadas - Saiba Mais. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
- ^ Axelrod, Herbert Richard (1996): Exotic Tropical Fishes. T.F.H. Publications. ISBN 0-87666-543-1
- Nelson, Keith (1964): The Evolution of a Pattern of Sound Production Associated with Courtship in the Characid Fish, Glandulocauda inequalis. Evolution 18(4): 526–540.doi:10.2307/2406207
| Taxon identifiers | |
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| Mimagoniates | |