156 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM ''^^- "^ 



this equivalence of structure is due to similar adaptation to stagnant 

 water and that it does not indicate close genetic relationships. Os- 

 teological comparisons indicate that the Lebiasininae are not related 

 closely to such genera as Anostomus, Leparinus, and Hemiodus. 



Summary 



The primary results of this study are as foUows: The Lebiasininae 

 and Erythrininae are defined and their relationships to each other 

 and to other characids are discussed. The Lebiasininae are not 

 related closely to the Erythrininae as assumed by many earlier authors. 

 The Erythrininae cannot have been derived directly from ancestors 

 that were like recent members of the Characinae (as defined by 

 Weitzman, 1962, p. 48). Although the evidence is inconclusive, of 

 all living characids, the Erythrininae are probably the most conserva- 

 tive (in some ways). It is sm^mised that the Characinae and Erythri- 

 ninae were derived from a common characid stock remote in time and 

 morphology from these two subfamiHes as they are known today. 

 The Lebiasininae, in many important respects, are more closely 

 allied morphologically to the Characinae than to the Erythrininae 

 despite their superficial resemblance to the Erythrininae. It appears 

 that the Lebiasininae may have been derived from early members 

 of the Characinae or at least from ancestral characids that were more 

 like the Characinae than the Erythrininae in their morphology. 



The subfamily Lebiasininae consists of two tribes, the Lebiasinini 

 and the Pyrrhulinini. Both are defined herein. The Lebiasinini 

 needs revision, but no attempt was made to reevaluate in this study 

 its genera and species. The Pyrrhulini consists of two subtribes, 

 the Pyrrhulinina and the Nannostomina, and both are defined herein. 



Literature Cited 



Bertmar, Gtjnnar 



1959. On the ontogeny of the chondral skull in Characidae, with a discussion 

 on the chondrocranial base and the visceral chondrocranium in 

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 BoHLKE, James 



1958. Studies of fishes of the family Characidae. — No. 14. A report on 

 several extensive recent collections from Ecuador. Proc. Acad. 

 Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, vol. 110, pp. 1-121, pis. 1-7. 



BOULENGER, GeoRGE 



1904. Fishes (systematic account of Teleostei) . /n S. F. Harmer and A. E. 

 Shipley, The Cambridge Natural History, vol. 7 (xviii4-760 pp.), 

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 Branson, Branlet A., and Moore, George A. 



1962. The lateralis components of the acoustico-lateralis system in the sun- 

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