Anostomidae

Anostomidae
Abramites hypselonotus in headstander swimming pose
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Characiformes
Suborder:	Characoidei
Family:	Anostomidae Günther, 1864[1]
Genera
Presently 14, but see text
Synonyms
Anostomina Günther, 1864 Anostominae (sensu Boulenger, 1904 et al.)

The Anostomidae are a family of ray-finned fishes that belong to the order Characiformes. Closely related to the Chilodontidae and formerly included with them, the Anostomidae contain about 150 described species. Commonly known as anostomids, they are found in freshwater habitats from the Río Atrato in northernmost South America to warm-temperate central Argentina; they are of Amazon origin, with few found west of the Andes (mainly in Colombia and Venezuela). Their scientific name approximately means "mouth on top", from Ancient Greek áno- (ἄνω) "up" (as an adverb) + stóma (στόμᾶ) "mouth", in reference to the arrangement of these fishes' mouth opening.^[2]