''Ctenocheirodon pristis'' is a species of

characin Characiformes is an order of ray-finned fish, comprising the characins and their allies. Grouped in 18 recognized families, more than 2000 different species are described, including the well-known piranha and tetras.; Buckup P.A.: "Relationshi ...

native to

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

that can grow up to 3.4 cm long (only 3.3 for males). It is the only known member of its

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

.Malabarba, L.R. & Jerep, F.C. (2012): A New Genus and Species of Cheirodontine Fish from South America (Teleostei: Characidae). ''Copeia, 2012 (2): 243-250.'' Its specific name comes from the Greek word pristis, which means saw. This refers to the projected fins on the underside of the fish.

Habitat

''C. pristis'' is a freshwater fish and it lives in the

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...

of the

Rio Tocantins The Tocantins River ( pt, Rio Tocantins, link=no , , Parkatêjê: ''Pyti'' ɨˈti is a river in Brazil, the central fluvial artery of the country. In the Tupi language, its name means "toucan's beak" (''Tukã'' for "toucan" and ''Ti'' for "beak" ...

in South America. It lives in areas of slow-moving water over river bottoms with little vegetation. As a result of the location, ''C. pristis'' lives exclusively in tropical areas.

References

Compsurini Characiformes genera Monotypic ray-finned fish genera Fish described in 2012 {{Characidae-stub