Mylossoma

{{Short description|Genus of fishes}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| image = Mylossoma aureum.jpg

| image_caption = Mylossoma aureum

| taxon = Mylossoma

| authority = C. H. Eigenmann & C. H. Kennedy, 1903

| type_species = Myletes albiscopus

| type_species_authority = 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.{{FishBase_genus | genus = Mylossoma | month = January | year = 2016 }} These common fish are found both in main river sections and floodplains.{{cite book|author=Michael Goulding|title=The Fishes and the Forest: Explorations in Amazonian Natural History|year=1981|pages=102–111|isbn=978-0520041318}} They support important fisheries and based on a review by IBAMA, they are the seventh most caught fish by weight in the Brazilian Amazon.Araujo-Lima, C.A.R.M.; and M.L. Ruffino (2003). Migratory Fishes of the Brazilian Amazon. Pp. 233—302 in: Carolsfeld, J.; B. Harvey; C. Ross; and A. Baer (editors). Migratory Fishes of South America. {{ISBN|9781552501146}} 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 {{convert|28.5|cm|in|abbr=on}} in length and {{convert|1|kg|lb|abbr=on}} in weight.