Achiridae Rafinesque 1815

Angulo, Arturo, Betts, Joel T., González-Alemán, Néstor J., Castañeda, Edgar, Berghe, Eric Van Den, Elías, Diego J., Mcmahan, Caleb D. & Matamoros, Wilfredo A., 2023, Continental fishes of Nicaragua: diversity, distribution and conservation status; with an annotated and illustrated checklist of species and an identification guide to families, Zootaxa 5376 (1), pp. 1-89 : 43

Family Achiridae Rafinesque 1815 ( Fig. 4A ). American Soles; Lenguados Redondos, Suelas Americanas, Lenguados Derechos

Description: Body strongly compressed, flattened, rounded in shape; up to 35 cm; snout rounded; mouth small, oblique, a little under snout; lips fleshy, often fringed; eyes on the right side, close together, small to minute; preoperculum edge covered with skin but visible as a superficial groove; origin of the dorsal fin well before the eye, with the frontal rays in a skin envelope and hard to see; pectoral present or absent, better developed on the eye side, rudimentary or absent on the blind side; both pelvic fins present, right pelvic fin joined to the anal fin; caudal fin not connected to the dorsal and anal fins ( Robertson & Allen 2015, Nelson et al. 2016). Distribution: Marine (often brackish) and freshwater; tropical and subtropical waters of America (Nelson et al. 2016). Two genera and four species in Nicaraguan freshwaters.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Families of continental fishes of Nicaragua, part 3; Achiridae (A), Carangidae (B), Cichlidae (C), Pomacentridae (D), Atherinopsidae (E), Rivulidae (F), Poeciliidae (G), Anablepidae (H), Belonidae (I), Hemiramphidae (J), Mugilidae (K), Gobiesocidae (L), Dactyloscopidae (M) and Lutjanidae (N). Illustrations adapted (with permission) from Nelson et al. (2016) and Angulo et al. (2021).