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Chirostoma
Chirostoma is a genus of Neotropical silversides from the Lerma River basin in Mexico, including lakes Chapala and Pátzcuaro. Fish in the genus collectively go by the common name charal/charales in their native range (a name also used for the related Poblana). They are heavily fished, but several of the species have become threatened due to habitat loss (pollution, water extraction and drought), introduced species and overfishing. Three species are considered extinct: C. bartoni (disappeared 2006), C. charari (1957) and C. compressum (1900). Four others have not been recorded recently and may also be extinct.
20 branches of this genus, most-observed first · about 20 known species
Mesa Silverside
speciesChirostoma jordani
Shortfin Silverside
speciesChirostoma humboldtianum
Pike Silverside
speciesChirostoma estor
Smallmouth Silverside
speciesChirostoma chapalae
Chirostoma reseratum
speciesChirostoma reseratum
Slender Silverside
speciesChirostoma attenuatum
Sharpnose Silverside
speciesChirostoma labarcae
Chirostoma copandaro
speciesChirostoma copandaro
Chirostoma zirahuen
speciesChirostoma zirahuen
Chirostoma breve
speciesChirostoma breve
Chirostoma album
speciesChirostoma album
Chirostoma mezquital
speciesChirostoma mezquital
Toluca Silverside
speciesChirostoma riojai
Bigmouth Silverside
speciesChirostoma sphyraena
Ajijic Silverside
speciesChirostoma contrerasi
Largetooth Silverside
speciesChirostoma arge
Blunthead Silverside
speciesChirostoma melanoccus
Chirostoma bartoni
speciesChirostoma bartoni
Scowling Silverside
speciesChirostoma aculeatum
Least Silverside
speciesChirostoma charari
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Chirostoma in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 87431.