Updated 3 Jan. 2024
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Bryconops Kner 1858 ṓps (Gr. ὦψ), eye or face (i.e., appearance), apparently reflecting Kner’s belief that this genus could be “classified with the hither related species” (translation) of Brycon (Bryconidae)
Subgenus Bryconops
Bryconops alburnoides Kner 1858 –oides, Neo-Latin from eī́dos (Gr. εἶδος), form or shape: the European leuciscid genus Alburnus
Bryconops caudomaculatus (Günther 1864) caudo-, from cauda (L.), tail; maculatus (L.), spotted, referring to pair of large reddish spots on basal half of caudal fin
Bryconops collettei Chernoff & Machado-Allison 2005 in honor of American ichthyologist Bruce B. Collette (b. 1935), Senior Systematic Zoologist, National Marine Fisheries Service, for “important” contributions to systematic ichthyology and to both author’s careers
Bryconops disruptus Machado-Allison & Chernoff 1997 Latin for broken, referring to its incomplete lateral line
Bryconops durbinae (Eigenmann 1908) in honor of Marion Durbin Ellis (née Durbin, 1887–1972), Eigenmann’s student and frequent collaborator in studying characid fishes, later a limnologist and environmental toxicologist, University of Missouri in Columbia
Bryconops florenceae Silva-Oliveira, Ota, Sabaj & Rapp Py-Daniel 2021 in honor of Florence de Rapleye Foerderer (1926–1999), whose will granted $7 million each to the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Zoo, and Gallaudet University, a liberal arts college for deaf and hard-of-hearing students; “Florence held a great love for animals and her generous bequest continued the Foerderer family’s long history of civic involvement and philanthropy in the Philadelphia area”
Bryconops gracilis (Eigenmann 1908) Latin for thin or slender, presumably referring to its elongate, slightly compressed body
Bryconops hexalepis Guedes, Oliveira & Lucinda 2019 héx (Gr. ἕξ), six; lepίs (Gr. λεπίς), scale, referring to six scale rows above lateral line (most congeners have 7–10)
Bryconops magoi Chernoff & Machado-Allison 2005 in memory of Francisco Mago-Leccia (1931–2004), “pioneer of modern ichthyological studies in Venezuela”
Bryconops piracolina Wingert & Malabarba 2011 named for Igarapé Piracolina, rio Madeira basin, Brazil, type locality
Bryconops rheoruber Silva-Oliveira, Sabaj Pérez, Ota & Rapp Py-Daniel 2019 rhéos (Gr. ῥέος), stream, current or rushing stream, referring to rocky rapids, its preferred habitat; ruber (L.), red, referring to coloration of dorsal, adipose and caudal fins [originally spelled rheorubrum, but adjective is spelled rheoruber when combined with a masculine genus]
Bryconops tocantinensis Guedes, Oliveira & Lucinda 2016 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: rio Tocantins drainage, Brazil, where it occurs
Subgenus Creatochanes Günther 1864 etymology not explained, probably creato-, from kréas (Gr. κρέας), flesh; chanes, from chaínō (Gr. χαίνω), gape or open mouth, perhaps referring to “maxillary without teeth [and therefore fleshy] along its edge” and “rather wide” mouth cleft of B. affinis and B. melanurus
Bryconops affinis (Günther 1864) Latin for related, i.e., “very similar” to B. melanurus
Bryconops chernoffi Silva-Oliveira, Lima & Bogotá-Gregory 2018 in honor of American ichthyologist Barry Chernoff (b. 1951), Wesleyan University (Middletown, Connecticut, USA), for his contributions to the taxonomy of Bryconops, and to ichthyology as a whole
Bryconops colanegra Chernoff & Machado-Allison 1999 cola and negra, Spanish for tail and black, respectively, referring to black caudal fin
Bryconops colaroja Chernoff & Machado-Allison 1999 cola and roja, Spanish for tail and red, respectively, referring to brilliant red tail
Bryconops cyrtogaster (Norman 1926) cyrto-, from kurtós (Gr. κυρτός), hooked or curved; gastḗr (Gr. γαστήρ), belly or stomach, referring to its “distinctly convex” ventral profile
Bryconops humeralis Machado-Allison, Chernoff & Buckup 1996 Latin for humeral, referring to its black humeral blotch
Bryconops giacopinii (Fernández-Yépez 1950) in honor of Jose A. Giacopini (1915–2005), Governor, Amazonas State of Venezuela, an “old friend” (translation) who sponsored an archaeological expedition during which holotype was collected
Bryconops imitator Chernoff & Machado-Allison 2002 Latin for mimic, referring to its similarity to B. colaroja
Bryconops inpai Knöppel, Junk & Géry 1968 of INPA, acronym for Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, which houses the type material and placed it at the authors’ disposal
Bryconops marabaixo Silva-Oliveira, Moreira, Lima & Rapp Py-Daniel 2020 named for Marabaixo, a cultural and religious manifestation in Amapá, Brazil (where type locality is situated), dating to African slaves of the 18th century
Bryconops melanurus (Bloch 1794) black-tailed, from mélanos (Gr. μέλανος), genitive of mélas (μέλας), black, and urus, from ourá (Gr. οὐρά), tail, referring to broad black stripe on caudal fin
Bryconops munduruku Silva-Oliveira, Canto & Ribeiro 2015 named for the Munduruku Indians who settled on the right margin of the rio Tapajós, giving rise to what today is the city of Aveiro, Pará, Brazil, type locality
Bryconops sapezal Wingert, Chuctaya & Malabarba 2018 named for Sapezal municipality, Mato Grosso, Brazil, type locality; “sapezal” means covered with sapê (Imperata brasiliensis, a satintail grass, Poaceae)
Bryconops transitorius (Steindachnesr 1915) Latin for transitional; Steindachner hypothesized that this taxon, proposed as a variety of B. melanurus, was one of “numerous transitions” or “extreme color varieties” (translations) among a highly variable B. melanurus that might encompass B. affinis as well [treated as a junior synonym of B. melanurus by some workers]
Bryconops vibex Machado-Allison, Chernoff & Buckup 1996 Latin for mark, referring to its humeral blotch
Subgenus Incertae sedis
Bryconops allisoni Silva-Oliveira, Canto & Ribeiro 2019 in honor of Antonio Machado-Allison (b. 1945), Universidad Central de Venezuela, for his contributions to the knowledge of the taxonomy of Bryconops
Iguanodectes Cope 1872 iguana, Arawakan (West Indies) word for large lizard of the American tropics; déktēs (Gr. δέκτης), biter or receiver, allusion not explained nor evident, perhaps Cope believed crenulate teeth of I. tenuis (=spilurus) were lizard-like in some way
Iguanodectes adujai Géry 1970 of the rio Adujá, middle Rio Negro drainage, Brazil, type locality
Iguanodectes geisleri Géry 1970 in honor of German biologist and aquarist Rolf Geisler (1925–2012), who collected holotype
Iguanodectes gracilis Géry 1993 Latin for thin or slender, referring to its small size and slender shape
Iguanodectes polylepis Géry 1993 polý (Gr. πολύ), many; lepίs (Gr λεπίς), scale, having the most lateral-line scales in the genus
Iguanodectes purusii (Steindachner 1908) of the rio Purus, Brazil, type locality
Iguanodectes rachovii Regan 1912 in honor of German aquarist Arthur Rachow (1884–1960), who presented holotype to the British Museum
Iguanodectes spilurus (Günther 1864) spot-tailed, from spílos (Gr. σπίλος), mark or spot, and urus, from ourá (Gr. οὐρά), tail, referring to large, rounded, deep-black spot on basal portion of caudal fin
Iguanodectes variatus Géry 1993 Latin for variable for variegated (Géry said tacheté, or spotted), presumably referring to mottling (“des marbrures”) on the bodies of adults
Piabucus Oken 1817 Latinization of piabucu, local name for various small characiform fishes in 17th-century Brazil
Piabucus caudomaculatus Vari 1977 caudo-, from cauda (L.), tail; maculatus (L.), spotted, referring to dark spot at base of middle caudal-fin rays and center of caudal peduncle
Piabucus dentatus (Koelreuter 1763) Latin for toothed, referring to 16 short, blunt, subtriangular teeth at end of each mandible; since this is one of the earliest characiforms to be described, its original name (Trutta dentata) may reflect the18th-century notion that it was a toothed salmon or trout based on presence of adipose fin
Piabucus melanostoma Holmberg 1891 mélanos (Gr. μέλανος), genitive of mélas (μέλας), black; stóma (Gr. στόμα), mouth, referring to black lower lip and chin