Cladistic biogeography is an evolutionary biogeographic approach that infers area relationships by comparing area cladograms derived from different phylogenetic hypotheses. The South American freshwater ichthyofauna is enriched by an extraordinary number of marine-derived lineages, presenting its own phylogenetic and biogeographic patterns. Here, we performed a Brooks Parsimony Analysis (BPA) with the latest phylogenetic proposals for Anablepidae to compare hypotheses about the historical relationships among areas previously recognized based on fish species from the Neotropical region. We found that the area relationships for Anablepidae are in accordance with the pattern evidenced for other marine-derived lineages. The general area cladogram obtained shows a three-area relationship pattern, where freshwater is the sister group of Pacific + Atlantic marine areas. Within the freshwater clade, Southern Brazil + Uruguay River basin and Northwestern Argentina + Midwestern Argentina form two clades. Vicariance, dispersal, and extinction events related to Miocene and Quaternary marine transgressions and ancient connections between the Iguaçu and Upper Uruguay River basins supported the historical relationships among areas proposed here. Our results may be applied to patterns shown by other marine-derived lineages, as well as other freshwater organisms not necessarily having marine origins.