Mylossoma
| Mylossoma Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
| Mylossoma aureum | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Characiformes |
| Family: | Serrasalmidae |
| Subfamily: | Colossomatinae |
| Genus: | Mylossoma C. H. Eigenmann & C. H. Kennedy, 1903 |
| Type species | |
| Myletes albiscopus Cope, 1872 | |
Mylossoma is a genus of serrasalmids from tropical and subtropical South America, including the basins of the Amazon, Orinoco, Lake Maracaibo and Paraguay-Paraná. These common fish are found both in main river sections and floodplains. They support important fisheries and based on a review by IBAMA, they are the seventh most caught fish by weight in the Brazilian Amazon. They primarily feed on plant material such as seeds and fruits (to a lesser extent invertebrates), and in their ecology they generally resemble the larger tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum). Mylossoma reach up to 28.5 cm (11.2 in) in length and 1 kg (2.2 lb) in weight.
Fossil remains are known from the Middle Miocene-aged Pebas Formation of Peru.