Family: CYNOLEBIIDAE, Rivuliines

FAMILY CYNOLEBIIDAE

RIVULINES

Body elongate, cylindrical; head flattened; sensory system on top of head with grooves and exposed pads rather than pores; covering of eye partly continuous with skin of head; mouth slightly upturned, at front, short, not reaching under eye, top jaw extendible; teeth small, weak, conical; front nostril a hole or in a forward projecting tube, rear nostril a small slit before and above eye; fins without spines, although 1st ray may be unbranched; dorsal fin at rear of body, its origin over base of last few anal rays, front rays may be unbranched, 8-1; anal fin 10-17; pelvics on abdomen, at rear, near anal fin; pectorals rounded, on mid-side; tail fin rounded; body with smooth scales; lateral line reduced to sensory pits along side of body; fertilization internal, with eggs then being laid.

A neotropical, primarily South American,  family with ~40 genera and ~300 species of freshwater to brackishwater fishes. Two brackishwater members of one genus are endemic to our area.