Astyanax bransfordii (Gill, 1877)
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
Astyanax bransfordii, sometimes called the longjaw tetra, is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Acestrorhamphidae, the American characins. This fish is endemic to a handful of lakes and slow-moving canals in Central America. Its range includes Lake Nicaragua and Lake Managua, which are two of the largest freshwater bodies in Central America; because it occurs only in the relevant areas of Costa Rica and Nicaragua, the area it actually inhabits is somewhat restricted. Its diet largely consists of various invertebrates and smaller fish. This is in contrast to various other species of Astyanax, which are more often omnivorous.
Its elongated body and jaws - which garnered the common name "longjaw tetra" - once earned it the distinction of a separate genus altogether, Bramocharax, along with several other members of Astyanax. However, Bramocharax is now considered invalid, and these morphological differences are considered adaptations instead of synapomorphies - that is, changes in shape caused over time by feeding habits, rather than inherited from a relationship to each other through a common ancestor.
Wikipedia contributors, Astyanax bransfordii; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T19:05:25.802319+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Astyanax bransfordii (Gill, 1877)
- Name authority
- (Gill, 1877)
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Characiformes
- Family
- Acestrorhamphidae
- Genus
- Astyanax
- 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
- subfamilyAcestrorhamphinae Eigenmann, 1907
- genusAstyanax Baird & Girard, 1854
- speciesAstyanax bransfordii (Gill, 1877)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Astyanax. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Astyanax robustus Meek, 1912 | AcestrorhamphidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Astyanax pirabitira Lucena, Bertaco & Berbigier, 2013 | AcestrorhamphidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Astyanax superbus Myers, 1942 | AcestrorhamphidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Astyanax bagual Bertaco & Vigo, 2015 | AcestrorhamphidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Astyanax ruberrimus Eigenmann, 1913 | AcestrorhamphidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Astyanax trierythropterus Godoy, 1970 | AcestrorhamphidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Astyanax henseli de Melo & Buckup, 2006 | AcestrorhamphidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Astyanax procerus Lucena, Castro & Bertaco, 2013 | AcestrorhamphidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Astyanax poetzschkei Ahl, 1932 | AcestrorhamphidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Astyanax saltor Travassos, 1960 | AcestrorhamphidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Astyanax acatlanensis Schmitter-Soto, 2017 | AcestrorhamphidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Astyanax bacalarensis Schmitter-Soto, 2017 | 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 |
|---|---|
| Bramocharax bransfordii Gill, 1877 Gill, 1877 | synonym |
| Bramocharax bransfordii bransfordii Gill, 1877 Gill, 1877 | synonym |
| Bramocharax bransfordi Gill, 1877 Gill, 1877 | synonym |
| Bramocharax elongatus Meek, 1907 Meek, 1907 | 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.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=1422446 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:D5CV5. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.