[[ Astyanax Baird & Girard ^ZBK ]]

The genus Astyanax Baird & Girard ^ZBK comprises approximately one-hundred valid species, occurring from southern United States of America to northern Patagonia in Argentina (Miquelarena & Menni, 2005). It is probable, however, that this genus, like several other genera included within the Characidae (e.g. Hyphessobrycon, Moenkhausia ^ZBK, Bryconamericus ^ZBK, Hemigrammus), is not monophyletic (Weitzman & Fink, 1983; Zanata, 1997; Weitzman & Malabarba, 1998; Lima et al., 2003; Castro & Vari, 2004).