Biology:Saccodon
Saccodon is a genus of freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Parodontidae, the scrapetooths. The fishes in this genus are found in the Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena region from Panama to northwestern Peru.
Taxonomy
Saccodon was first proposed as a genus by the Austrian ichthyologist Rudolf Kner in his Eine Uebersicht der ichthyologischen Ausbeute des Herrn Professors Dr. Mor. Wagner in Central-Amerika (An overview of the ichthyological findings of Professor Dr. Mor. Wagner in Central America) published in 1863. Kner proposed it as a monospecific genus with Saccodon wagneri as its only species, this species being the type species by monotypy.[1] S. wagneri was first formally described, by Kner in the same volume as he proposed the genus and its type locality was given as Ecuador.[2] Saccodon is classified within the family Parodontidae, the scrapetooths, which is classified within the suborder Characoidei of the order Characiformes.[3]
Species
Saccodon contains the following valid species:[2]
- Saccodon dariensis (Meek & Hildebrand, 1913)
- Saccodon terminalis (C. H. Eigenmann & Henn, 1914)
- Saccodon wagneri Kner, 1863
Etymology
Saccodon is a combination of saccus, which means "bag", and odon, which is a Latinised derivative of the Greek oudos, meaning "teeth". This is a reference to "bulging mucus membrane" that Kner described, this surround the premaxillae of the type species and contains highly speciialised algae scraping teeth. The specific name of the type species, S. wagneri, honours the German explorer and geographer, Moritz Wagner (naturalist), who collected the type specimen and whose collections Kner was reviewing.[4]
Characteristics
Saccodon is distinguished from the other two genera in the Parodontidae by the possession of two rather than a single unbranched ray in the pectoral fins and, unlike the species specific teeth morphology of those genera, Saccodon scrapetooths show a high degree of dental polymorphism.[5] These fishes vary in maximum size from a standar length of 4 cm (1.6 in) for S. terminalis up to 16.8 cm (6.6 in) for S. dariensis.[6]
Distribution and habitat
Saccodon scrapetooths are found in the pacific slope drainages of southern Central America and northwestern South America, from southern Panama to northwestern Peru.[5] These fishes are found in streams with fast currents where they feed by scraping off algae growing on rocks, keeping their position by using their pectoral fins to hold onto the substrate.[7]
References
- Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2011). Species of Saccodon in FishBase. October 2011 version.
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedCof family - ↑ 2.0 2.1 Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron; van der Laan, Richard, eds. "Species in the genus Saccodonon". California Academy of Sciences. http://researcharchive.calacademy.org/research/ichthyology/catalog/fishcatget.asp?tbl=species&genus=Saccodonon.
- ↑ "Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes Classification". Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. https://www.calacademy.org/scientists/catalog-of-fishes-classification.
- ↑ Christopher Scharpf (22 September 2023). "Family PARODONTIDAE Eigenmann 1910 (Scrapetooths)". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf. https://etyfish.org/parodontidae/.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Beatriz Ferreira Dorini (2023). Familía Parodontidae (Telestei, Characoidei) Identifacãoa Molecular e Estudo das Relações Filogenéticas entre Espécies (MSc thesis). Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho".
- ↑ Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2025). Species of Saccodon in FishBase. April 2025 version.
- ↑ Pavanelli, C.; Starnes, Wayne (2015). "Revision of the trans-Andean scrapetooths genus Saccodon (Ostariophysi: Characiformes: Parodontidae)". Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters 26: 193-207.
Wikidata ☰ Q10659896 entry
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