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To understand how Neotropical freshwater fishes (NFF) benefit society, we conducted a broad literature survey to (i) map and list the ecosystem services (ES) generated by these organisms, and (ii) investigate how human activities have affected the ecosystem service chain. We found sound evidence that NFF contribute directly and indirectly to the generation of several provisioning, regulating, supporting, and cultural services. Provisioning services have been widely recognized, especially those related to fisheries, but this class also included ornamental fish, genetic pools, medicines, aquaculture, and bioindicators. Other services remain less understood and largely ignored by society. Regulating services included seed dispersal, decomposition, and top-down control, while supporting services included nutrient cycling, habitat quality, and ecosystem engineering. Cultural services associated with NFF included …