Fish sperm morphology is quite diverse. In the last decades our and other studies on Teleostei, mainly on Ostariophysi with emphasis in the Characiformes, have showing that the features of these spermatozoa can be used in phylogenetic analyses. Our purpose in this review is explaining how we can get data from sperm to be used for phylogenetic inference. The shape of the nucleus, midpiece and flagellum; the relative position of the centrioles; the number and distribution of a few organelles (mitochondria and vesicles) are features to be analyzed. To recognize homologies in the ultrastructural features of spermatozoa the types of spermatogenesis and spermiogenesis variations also need to be known. Other reproductive characters that have phylogenetic signal are also reviewed, among them the presence of insemination, the organization of the germinal epithelium, the internal structure of the testis. Here we also explain how to prepare testis for extraction of sperm morphological characters and how treat these characters. Lastly, we propose (supplementary material) two lists of characters defined for the Characiformes, that may serve as examples of how spermatic features may be used for phylogenetic analyses.

鱼的精子形态十分多样。在过去的几十年中，我们和其他关于Teleostei的研究（主要在骨形目中的重点在于骨肉physi科）显示，这些精子的特征可用于系统发育分析。我们在这篇综述中的目的是解释我们如何从精子中获取数据以用于系统发育推断。核，中段和鞭毛的形状；中心的相对位置；几个细胞器（线粒体和囊泡）的数量和分布是要分析的特征。为了识别精子超微结构特征的同源性，还需要知道精子发生的类型和精子发生的变化。还回顾了其他具有系统发育信号的生殖特征，其中包括授精，生发上皮的组织，睾丸的内部结构。在这里，我们还解释了如何准备睾丸以提取精子的形态特征以及如何治疗这些特征。最后，我们提出（补充材料）为字符型定义的两个字符列表，它们可以作为精子特征如何用于系统发育分析的示例。