Orestias (fish)

Orestias
Orestias cuvieri
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Cyprinodontiformes
Family: Cyprinodontidae
Genus: Orestias
Valenciennes, 1839
Type species
Orestias cuvieri
Valenciennes, 1846[1]

Orestias is a genus of pupfish. Older systematics classified them into the own family Orestiidae. They are found in lakes, rivers and springs in the Andean highlands of South America, and several species are considered threatened.[2] They are egg-laying fish that feed on small animals and plant matter.[3][4] The largest species can reach a total length of 27 cm (10.6 in), but most remain far smaller.[5][6] Their most characteristic feature is the absence of the ventral fin, although this is shared by a few other pupfish.[6] Despite their moderate to small size, they are important to local fisheries and a few species are farmed.[7]

Several species are locally and colloquially known as carache. The name of the genus is a reference to Orestes, a Greek mythological character who Valenciennes described as the "nymph of the mountains".[8]

  1. ^ Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Orestias". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Vila2013 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Maldonado, E.; N. Hubert; P. Sagnes; B. De MÉrona (2009). "Morphology–diet relationships in four killifishes (Teleostei, Cyprinodontidae, Orestias) from Lake Titicaca". Journal of Fish Biology. 74 (3): 502–520. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8649.2008.02140.x.
  4. ^ Vila, I.; R. Pardo; S. Scott (2007). "Freshwater fishes of the Altiplano". Aquatic Ecosystem Health & Management. 10 (2): 201–211. doi:10.1080/14634980701351395.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference fishbase was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Parenti1984 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Esquer-Garrigos, Y.; B. Hugueny; C. Ibañez; C. Zepita; K. Koerner; J. Lambourdière; A. Couloux; P. Gaubert (2015). "Detecting natural hybridization between two vulnerable Andean pupfishes (Orestias agassizii and O. luteus) representative of the Altiplano endemic fisheries". Conservation Genetics. 16 (3): 717–727.
  8. ^ Christopher Scharpf; Kenneth J. Lazara (26 April 2019). "Order CYPRINODONTIFORMES: Families PANTANODONTIDAE, CYPRINODONTIDAE, PROFUNDULIDAE, GOODEIDAE, FUNDULIDAE and FLUVIPHYLACIDAE". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 20 October 2019.