and he did not include them directly in his cladogram. He tentatively placed 

 Tetranematichthys in the Ageneiosidae. ,, . . 



:, . As evident from the preceding review, there is little disagreement among 

 most authors that ageneiosids, auchenipterids, and doradids are closely related. The 

 main differences between previous classifications involve the categorical rank, 

 arrangement, and nomenclatural validity of various taxa, especially genera within 

 the Auchenipteridae. It is neither the intent nor within the scope of this study to 

 present any additional hypotheses of relationships at the family level or above. 

 Nevertheless, some justification of the classification used here is in order. Primarily 

 as a matter of pragmatism, I prefer to retain a three-family classification of 

 neotropical doradoids at the present time, and continue to recognize the family 

 Ageneiosidae. This is done mainly to facilitate ease of communication about 

 characters and the taxa within the derived ageneiosid clade. It should be noted that 

 the most significant changes in classification recently proposed (Ferraris 1988) have 

 yet to be published in a peer-reviewed journal, and thus are not widely known or 

 accepted by researchers unfamiliar with these fishes. Moreover, additional detailed 

 information is critically needed to document the distribution of certain character 

 states and the phylogenetic position of several poorly known auchenipterids. It is 

 conceded, however, that there is a strong possibility that future classifications of the 

 neotropical doradoids may include ageneiosids and auchenipterids under a single 

 categorical rank, perhaps at least with the former representing a subfamily. 



Early History of Species Names ': 



The early nomenclatural history of ageneiosids involves a number of names 

 that have been applied to several species, some of which cannot be unequivocally 

 detemained from the original descriptions. The gtrnxitAgeneiosus was established by 



■^2^: 



.V. 



