Schizodon is a genus of headstander characins in the family Anostomidae, distributed through South American river systems; the atlas draws records from Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, French Guiana, and Peru. Like other anostomids, they have an elongate, silvery, torpedo-shaped body and characteristically swim and rest at an oblique, head-down angle, a posture that gives the family its common name. Schizodon are herbivorous to detritivorous grazers, using specialized dentition to rasp algae, plant material, and organic sediment from submerged surfaces in rivers and floodplain lakes, and several species are abundant and large enough to figure in local subsistence and small-scale commercial fisheries across their range. Adult sizes run large for a characin, from roughly 15 up to 17 in.
Schizodon is more a food fish and ecological grazer than an aquarium staple — its large adult size and strictly plant-heavy diet make it impractical for most home tanks, so species like S. fasciatus and S. vittatus (both called banded headstander) are kept mainly in large public-aquarium or specialist setups rather than typical community tanks. Where they are kept, a vegetable-rich diet and a tank scaled to a large, active grazing fish are essential. Conservation status across the genus looks secure — the atlas's IUCN tally is mostly Least Concern, with the remainder Not Evaluated rather than any species flagged as threatened.