Brycon
| Brycon Temporal range:
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|---|---|
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| Brycon hilarii | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Characiformes |
| Family: | Bryconidae |
| Subfamily: | Bryconinae |
| Genus: | J. P. Müller & Troschel, 1844[1] |
| Type species | |
| Brycon falcatus J. P. Müller & Troschel, 1844[1]
| |
| Synonyms[1] | |
| |
Brycon is a genus of freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging the family Bryconidae, and order Characiformes. The fishes in this genus are found in Central and South America, ranging from southern Mexico to northern Argentina.[2] Despite not being closely related to true trout, they are sometimes called South American trout.[3] Members of the genus may be referred to by a number of other different common names in various languages. They reach a maximum length of 11.9–79.5 cm (4.7–31.3 in) depending on the species involved.[2] Some species perform seasonal breeding migrations.[4]
They feed heavily on fruits and seeds, but also take other plant material, invertebrates and small fish.[5][6] Their food is typically taken from the water, but they are able to jump out of the water to "pluck" low-hanging seeds and fruits directly from trees.[3] Some seeds are crushed when eaten, but may also pass undamaged through the fish, making them seed dispersers.[3][5][6]
Brycon support important fisheries and based on a review by IBAMA, they are the fifth most caught fish by weight in the Brazilian Amazon.[4]
One fossil member of this genus is known in †Brycon avus (Woodward, 1898) from the Oligocene-aged Tremembé Formation of Brazil.[7][8] A slightly older potential specimen of B. avus is also known from the Late Eocene/Early Oligocene of the Aiuruoca Basin.[9]
Species
Brycon contains the following valid species:[10]
- Brycon alburnus (Günther, 1860)
- Brycon amazonicus (Agassiz, 1829)
- Brycon argenteus Meek & Hildebrand, 1913
- Brycon atrocaudatus (Kner, 1863)
- Brycon behreae Hildebrand, 1938
- Brycon chagrensis (Kner, 1863)
- Brycon coquenani Steindachner, 1915
- Brycon costaricensis Angulo & Gracian-Negrete, 2013
- Brycon coxeyi Fowler, 1943
- Brycon dentex Günther, 1860
- Brycon devillei (Castelnau, 1855)
- Brycon dulcis Lima & Vieira, 2017
- Brycon falcatus J. P. Müller & Troschel, 1844
- Brycon ferox Steindachner, 1877
- Brycon fowleri Dahl, 1955
- Brycon gouldingi Lima, 2004
- Brycon guatemalensis Regan, 1908
- Brycon henni C. H. Eigenmann, 1913
- Brycon hilarii (Valenciennes, 1850)
- Brycon howesi Lima, 2017
- Brycon insignis Steindachner, 1877
- Brycon medemi Dahl, 1960
- Brycon meeki Eigenmann & Hildebrand, 1918
- Brycon melanopterus (Cope, 1872)
- Brycon moorei Steindachner, 1878
- Brycon nattereri Günther, 1864
- Brycon obscurus Hildebrand, 1938
- Brycon oligolepis Regan, 1913
- Brycon opalinus (Cuvier, 1819)
- Brycon orbignyanus (Valenciennes, 1850)
- Brycon orthotaenia Günther, 1864
- Brycon pesu J. P. Müller & Troschel, 1845
- Brycon petrosus Meek & Hildebrand, 1913
- Brycon polylepis Moscó Morales 1988
- Brycon posadae Fowler, 1945
- Brycon rubricauda Steindachner, 1879
- Brycon sinuensis Dahl, 1955
- Brycon stolzmanni Steindachner, 1879
- Brycon striatulus (Kner, 1863)
- Brycon unicolor Moscó Morales, 1988
- Brycon vermelha Lima & Castro, 2000
- Brycon vonoi Lima, 2017
- Brycon whitei Myers & Weitzman 1960
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Brycon cf. amazonicus -
Brycon behreae -
Brycon henni -
Brycon moorei -
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Brycon rubricauda -
Brycon hilarii
References
- ^ a b c Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Bryconinae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
- ^ a b Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Species in genus Brycon". FishBase. October 2016 version.
- ^ a b c "Brycons". British Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 3 December 2010. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
- ^ a b Araujo-Lima, C.A.R.M.; and M.L. Ruffino (2003). Migratory Fishes of the Brazilian Amazon. Pp. 233—302 in: Carolsfeld, J.; B. Harvey; C. Ross; and A. Baer (editors). Migratory Fishes of South America. ISBN 0-9683958-2-1
- ^ a b Goulding, M (1980). The Fishes and the Forest: Explorations in Amazonian Natural History. University of California Press. pp. 68–100. ISBN 0-520-04131-3.
- ^ a b Reysa, P.; Sabino, J.; Galetti, M. (2009). "Frugivory by the fish Brycon hilarii (Characidae) in western Brazil". Acta Oecologica. 35 (1): 136–141. Bibcode:2009AcO....35..136R. doi:10.1016/j.actao.2008.09.007.
- ^ Abe, Kelly T.; Mariguela, Tatiane C.; Avelino, Gleisy S.; Foresti, Fausto; Oliveira, Claudio (2014-07-08). "Systematic and historical biogeography of the Bryconidae (Ostariophysi: Characiformes) suggesting a new rearrangement of its genera and an old origin of Mesoamerican ichthyofauna". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 14 (1): 152. Bibcode:2014BMCEE..14..152A. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-14-152. ISSN 1471-2148. PMC 4109779. PMID 25005252.
- ^ Malabarba, Maria Cláudia S. L. (1998). "Phylogeny of Fossil Characiformes and Paleobiogeography of the Tremembé Formation, São Paulo, Brazil.". Phylogeny and Classification of Neotropical Fishes. Part 1 - Fossils and Geological Evidence (PDF). pp. 69–84.
- ^ Malabarba, María Claudia de S. L. (2004). "On the paleoichthyofauna from the Aiuruoca Tertiary Basin, Minas Gerais State, Brazil". Ameghiniana (in Spanish). 41 (4): 515–519. ISSN 1851-8044.
- ^ Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Brycon". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 19 August 2025.