revision of the south american freshwater fish genus laemolyta cope, 1872 (ostariophysi: characiformes: anostomidae)

The anostomid genus Laemolyta Cope, 1872, is redefined.Various morphological, especially osteological characters in addition to the commonly utilized features of dentition proved useful for its characterization. A taxonomic revision of all species was made using meristics, morphometrics and color pattern. Five species are recognized: Laemolyta fernandezi Myers, 1950, from the río Orinoco (Venezuela) and the sub-basins Tocantins/Araguaia and Xingu, L. orinocensis (Steindachner, 1879), restricted to the río Orinoco, L. garmani (Borodin, 1931) and L. proxima (Garman, 1890), from the Amazon basin with the latter also occurring in the Essequibo River (Guiana), and L. taeniata (Kner, 1859), from the Amazon and Orinoco basins. Laemolyta garmani macra is considered a synonym of L. garmani, L. petiti a synonym of L. fernandezi, and L. nitens and L. varia synonyms of L. proxima. Lectotypes are designated herein for L. orinocencis and L. taeniata.