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Astyanax is a genus of freshwater fish in the family Characidae of the order Characiformes. Some of these fish, like many of their relatives, are kept as aquarium pets and known collectively as tetras. With around 150 described species and new ones being described every few months, this genus is among the largest of the entire order; Hyphessobrycon also has more than 145 species and which one is larger at any one time depends on whether more species have been recently described in one or the other. The blind cave fish, a form of A. mexicanus, is a famous member of this genus. A. jordani, a different but closely related blind fish, was formerly considered to form its own genus, Anoptichthys.
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The type species is A. argentatus, now regarded as a form of A. mexicanus, the Mexican tetra. The generic name comes from Astyanax, a character in Greek mythology, who was the son of Hector of Troy; in homage to this, several specific epithets also refer to the Iliad.
Taxonomy and systematics
This genus is more or less defined as in 1917 by Carl H. Eigenmann. The lack of comprehensive phylogenetic analyses dealing with this genus is hindering a thorough review and the relationships remain as indeterminate as the monophyly is doubtful. Although included in Astyanax by FishBase, phylogenetic evidence supports moving A. aurocaudatus back to the monotypic genus Carlastyanax.
Species
There are currently 147 recognized species in this genus:
