The Erythrinidae are a

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

es found in

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

s and other freshwater habitats from

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

south as far as

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. They are common and are caught with hooks by fishermen, partially because of their voracious behaviour. They are sometimes called ''trahiras'' (also spelled trairas) or ''tarariras''. The Erythrinidae include cylindrical fish with blunt heads, and prey on other fish. They can reach lengths up to . Some species can breathe air, enabling them to survive in water low in oxygen, and even to move over land between ponds.

Species

The 16 species are contained in three

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

: *''

Erythrinus ''Erythrinus'' is a genus of relatively small trahiras, freshwater fish from tropical South America. Species There are currently two recognized species in this genus, but a possibly undescribed species In taxonomy, an undescribed taxon is a ...

'' *''

Hoplerythrinus ''Hoplerythrinus'' is a genus of trahiras found in Central and South America. The currently described species in this genus are: * '' Hoplerythrinus cinereus'' ( T. N. Gill, 1858) * '' Hoplerythrinus gronovii'' (Valenciennes Valenciennes ( ...

'' *''

Hoplias ''Hoplias'' is a genus of fish in the family Erythrinidae found in Central and South America. Species There are currently 13 recognized species in this genus: * '' Hoplias aimara'' (Valenciennes, 1847) * '' Hoplias australis'' Oyakawa & Mat ...

'' - giant trahiras

References

* Nelson, Joseph S. (2006). ''

Fishes of the World ''Fishes of the World'' by the American ichthyologist Joseph S. Nelson (1937–2011) is a standard reference for fish systematics. Now in its fifth edition (2016), the work is a comprehensive overview of the diversity and classification of the ...

''. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

External links

Fish of South America {{Characiformes-stub