Curimatopsis

Curimatopsis is a genus with 11 species in this atlas, catalogued in the Piranhas & Pacus section, recorded from Brazil, Venezuela, Bolivia and 8 more countries. Adult sizes run from 1 in to 2.5 in. Every species below links to a full researched profile.

Species in atlas
11
Adult sizes
1–2.5 in
IUCN assessed
11 of 11
Recorded from
11 countries

About the genus

Curimatopsis is a genus of small characins in the family Curimatidae, native to river systems across northern and central South America, with atlas records from Brazil, Venezuela, Bolivia, Colombia, Argentina, Ecuador, French Guiana, and Guyana. The 11 species covered here are small, generally 1–2.5 in, silvery, deep-bodied fish that shoal in open water and along riverbanks. Like other curimatids, Curimatopsis species lack teeth in the jaws and instead feed by sifting fine organic detritus and algae from sediment, a diet very different from the more typical omnivorous or predatory habits of many other characins.

Curimatopsis is chiefly of ecological and scientific interest rather than a hobby fish; only Curimatopsis macrolepis, the shinyscaled curimata, carries a widely used common name in the atlas, and most species are documented mainly through ichthyological surveys of Amazon and Orinoco tributaries rather than the aquarium trade. As detritus feeders, curimatids like this genus play an understated but important role in processing organic material within their river ecosystems. Conservation data remain thin: 8 of the 11 atlas species are still Not Evaluated, with the remaining 3 rated Least Concern.

IUCN Red List: Least Concern · 3 Not Evaluated · 8

The 11 species

Every Curimatopsis recorded in this atlas. Each card links to a full researched profile — distribution, water parameters, and aquarium care, cited to primary sources.

Vari, 1982

2 in SL · NE

Géry, 1964

1.5 in SL · LC

Melo & Oliveira, 2017

1 in SL · NE

Melo & Oliveira, 2017

1.5 in SL · NE

(Steindachner, 1876)

Shinyscaled curimata, Boquilla

2.5 in SL · LC

Melo, Vari & Oliveira, 2016

1 in SL · NE

Dutra, Melo & Netto-Ferreira, 2018

1.5 in SL · NE

Eigenmann & Eigenmann, 1889

2.5 in SL · NE

Vari, 1982

1.5 in SL · NE

Melo & Oliveira, 2017

1 in SL · NE

Melo, 2020

1.5 in SL · LC

Explore further

How to cite

Aquarist Atlas (2026). Genus Curimatopsis. Aquarist Atlas. https://www.aquaristatlas.com/curimatopsis/

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