Classification / Names
Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa
Teleostei (teleosts) >
Characiformes (Characins) >
Characidae (Characins; tetras) > Stethaprioninae
Etymology: Astyanax: The name of Astyanax, Hector´s son in the Greek mythology (Ref. 45335); henseli: Named for R. Hensel, for his contributions to ichthyology in southern Brazil.
Eponymy: Astyanax was the son of Hector in Greek mythology. See Homer’s Iliad for details. The reasoning for its use for a genus of characins is not explained. Reinhold Friedrich Hensel (1826–1881) was a German naturalist, ichthyologist and paleontologist. [...] (Ref. 128868), visit book page.
Issue
Hensel (1870) described Tetragonopterus aeneus as a new species from Porto Alegre, Southern Brazil, however, it is a junior homonym of that of Günther (1860) whose specimens were taken from Oaxaca, Mexico. Steindachner later listed this as a synonym of T. rutilus Jenyns 1842, along with T. obscurus Hensel 1870. Later, Eigenmann (1921:293) listed T. rutilus, T. aeneus Günther and T. aeneus Hensel as junior synonyms of A. fasciatus Cuvier 1819. The obvious homonymy was obscured when Eigenmann placed T. aeneus of Günther as synonym of Astyanax fasciatus aeneus and that of Hensel as synonym of A. fasciatus fasciatus. Through most of the 20th century T. aeneus remained as synonym of A. fasciatus or has been treated as a species of uncertain status. Some authors maintained the association between T. obscurus and T. aeneus Hensel, and used the former as the valid name. F. de Melo and P. Buckup revalidated and redescribed T. aeneus Hensel to avoid homonymy, and gave the new name Astyanax henseli (Ref. 56653).
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Freshwater; pelagic. Tropical
South America: Southern Brazil.
Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm 6.0, range 2 - 11.008 cm
Max length : 11.1 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 116915)
Short description
Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics
Dorsal soft rays (total): 10 - 11; Anal soft rays: 25 - 33. Diagnosis: Distinguished from its congeners except A. saguazu and A. elachylepis by the presence of a second vertically elongate humeral spot (vs. one humeral spot). It differs from saguazu, elachylepis, and fasciatus species complex by the autapomorphic presence of a space between the dentary teeth, which are relatively slender, with cusps positioned close to one another, and by the presence of a maximum of five cusps in each dentary tooth (vs. maximum of 7 cusps). Differs from fasciatus, rutilus, and elachylepis by the presence of 2 - 5, usually 5, tricuspid teeth on the anterior margin of maxilla (vs. 1 - 2 teeth, usually 1, on anterior margin of maxilla) (Ref. 56653).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
de Melo, F.A.G. and P.A. Buckup, 2006. Astyanax henseli, a new name for Tetragonopterus aeneus Hensel, 1870 from southern Brazil (Teleostei: Characiformes). Neotrop. Ichthyol. 41(1):45-52. (Ref. 56653)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-2)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Tools
Special reports
Download XML
Internet sources
Estimates based on models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01122 (0.00677 - 0.01860), b=3.12 (2.98 - 3.26), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & Genus-body shape (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 2.8 ±0.4 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Resilience (Ref.
120179): High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Low vulnerability (10 of 100).
