Heterocharacinae

Heterocharacinae is a subfamily of freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Acestrorhynchidae, the fishes in this subfamily are known as small biting tetras. These fishes are found in South America.

Heterocharacinae
Heterocharax sp.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Characiformes
Family:	Acestrorhynchidae
Subfamily:	Heterocharacinae Géry, 1966[1]
Type genus
Heterocharax C. H. Eigenmann, 1912[1]

Until recently, the family Acestrorhynchidae contained only the genus Acestrorhynchus. However, taxonomic studies have found that the subfamilies Heterocharacinae (originally placed in the closely related Characidae) and Roestinae (originally placed in the more distantly related Cynodontidae) are actually more closely related to Acestrorhynchus, and now they are also placed in this family.^[2][3][4]

Genera

Heterocharacinae contains the following genera:^[5]

• Gnathocharax Fowler, 1913
• Heterocharax C. H. Eigenmann, 1912
• Hoplocharax Géry, 1966
• Lonchogenys Myers, 1927