Astyanax (fish)

Astyanax (fish)

Astyanax is a genus of freshwater fish in the characid family (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 130 described Astyanax species and new ones being described every few months, this genus is among the largest of the entire order: Hyphessobrycon also has more than 100 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.

The type species is 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.