Hemigrammus rodwayi Durbin, 1909
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The gold tetra, or Rodway's tetra (Hemigrammus rodwayi), is a species of small freshwater ray-finned fish in the family Acestrorhamphidae, the American characins. This fish is found in lowland South America, where they are abundant in coastal floodplains. Their name comes from a powdery golden tint on their body that is thought to be caused by internal parasites. Gold tetras are peaceful, hardy, schooling community fish. Gold tetras have been successfully bred in captivity.
The patronym was given by Marion Durban Ellis in honor of James Rodway, a renowned naturalist of British Guiana, who aided Carl Eigenmann's collecting trips in South America.
Wikipedia contributors, Gold tetra; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T22:46:25.736903+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Hemigrammus rodwayi Durbin, 1909
- Name authority
- Durbin, 1909
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Characiformes
- Family
- Acestrorhamphidae
- Genus
- Hemigrammus
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: no · Freshwater: yes · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderCharaciformes
- suborderCharacoidei
- familyAcestrorhamphidae Eigenmann, 1907
- subfamilyPristellinae Géry & Boutière, 1964
- genusHemigrammus Gill, 1858
- speciesHemigrammus rodwayi Durbin, 1909
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Hemigrammus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Hemigrammus barrigonae Eigenmann & Henn, 1914 | AcestrorhamphidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hemigrammus coeruleus Durbin, 1908 | AcestrorhamphidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hemigrammus cylindricus Durbin, 1909 | AcestrorhamphidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hemigrammus diagonicus Mendonça & Wosiacki, 2011 | AcestrorhamphidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hemigrammus durbinae Ota, Lima & Pavanelli, 2015 | AcestrorhamphidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hemigrammus gracilis (Lütken, 1875) | AcestrorhamphidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hemigrammus haraldi Géry, 1961 | AcestrorhamphidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hemigrammus levis Durbin, 1908 | AcestrorhamphidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hemigrammus luelingi Géry, 1964 | AcestrorhamphidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hemigrammus mahnerti Uj & Géry, 1989 | AcestrorhamphidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hemigrammus matei Eigenmann, 1918 | AcestrorhamphidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hemigrammus melanochrous Fowler, 1913 | AcestrorhamphidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Hemigrammus armstrongi Schultz & Axelrod, 1955 Schultz & Axelrod, 1955 | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- Durbin, M. L. (1909). Reports on the expedition to British Guiana of the Indiana University and the Carnegie Museum, 1908. Report No. 2. A new genus and twelve new species of tetragonopterid characins. Annals of the Carnegie Museum, v. 6 (no. 1): 55–72. https://doi.org/10.5962/p.331036 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3KP24. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.