SOUTH AMERICAN CHARACID FISHES — WEITZMAN 133 



then considered as comprising two subfamilies, Erythrininae and 

 Anostominae. He here excluded the Hemiodontinae from his Ery- 

 thrinidae. His subfamily Erythrininae comprised four tribes, Lebia- 

 sinidi, Erythrinidi, FyrrhuHnidi, and Nannostomidi. He did not 

 present evidence for this classification but he did remark (words in 

 brackets are mine) : "Poecilobrycon cannot be derived from either of 

 these genera [i.e., Nannostomus or Nannobrycon], nor vice versa. The 

 two groups probably had a common ancestor, close to the present day 

 Pyrrhulina, to which both are more closely related than to each other." 

 Hoedeman, however, placed PoecUobrycon, Nannostomus, and Nanno- 

 brycon in one group and the Pyrrhulina in another. As will be shown 

 below, it is my opinion that the members of the Nannostomina as 

 defined below are more closely related to each other than to any other 

 characids, but that Hoedeman was correct at that time in suspecting 

 their relationship to be with Pyrrhulina. Hoedeman (1954b, pp. 68- 

 84, and 1956b, pp. 547-551), however, once again reconsidered his 

 classification of Nannostomus and PoecUobrycon and placed them with 

 Hemiodus and relatives, excluding them from close realtionship with 

 Pyrrhulina. 



In summary, the Nannostomina have been thought to be related 

 to Lebiasina and its relatives, Erythrinus and its relatives, Pyrrhulina 

 and its relatives, Characidium, and finally to Hemiodus and its rela- 

 tives. As will be shown, their morphological relationships are with 

 Pyrrhulina, Lebiasina, and close relatives. Inadequate morphological 

 investigations have been the primary cause of this divergence of 

 opinion. 



Historical Review of the Classification of the Erythriainae 

 and Lebiasininae 



Since in the present work Nannostomus and PoecUobrycon have 

 been found to belong to the subfamily Lebiasininae, a historical 

 review of their relationships to other characids would not be complete 

 without a historical review of the Lebiasininae. Because the Lebia- 

 sininae and Erythrininae have been associated closely by many 

 authors, both are reviewed. 



Valenciennes, in Cuvier and Valenciennes (1846, p. 480), estab- 

 lished the "famille des Erythroides" for the reception of the genera 

 Macrodon (=Hoplias), Erythrinus, Lebiasina, and Pyrrhulina. He 

 defined these fishes as having a double swim bladder that is some- 

 times cellular, teeth on their jaws and palate, the cheek covered by a 

 large subopercle, the belly always rounded, and no pyloric caeca. 

 Apparently, Valenciennes interpreted the small autogenous "supra- 

 opercular" element of Hoplias as the opercle and the large true opercle 

 as the subopercle. 



