Geophagus

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Geophagus
Geophagus altifrons, the type species

Geophagus altifrons , the type species

Systematics
Ovalentaria
Order : Cichliformes
Family : Cichlids (Cichlidae)
Subfamily : Cichlinae
Tribe : Geophagini
Genre : Geophagus
Scientific name
Geophagus
Heckel , 1840

Geophagus is a genus of cichlids from northern and central South America . The fish are found mainly in flowing waters. Its name is made up of the Greek “geos” (= earth) and “phagein” (= to eat), which means earth eater and refers to the type of food the fish eat, which usually eat sand or mud from the ground, the edibleFilter outcomponents with the help of the gill trap andexpelthe inedible parts through the gill slits.

features

Geophagus species are small to medium-sized cichlids and grow to be 8 to a maximum of 27 centimeters long. The body is moderately elongated, high back and flattened at the sides, the head more or less pointed with a steeply rising forehead line. The caudal stalk is low, the caudal fin is strongly scaled. A tail root spot is missing. The sides of the body show a more or less pronounced side spot in the different species. Males are usually slightly larger in old age than females and develop significantly elongated pelvic fins.

Reproduction

Geophagus species display a variety of methods of reproduction. Most species are mouth brooders , some ( Geophagus abalios, parnaibae G. altifrons, G. neambi, G. and G. proximus ) are ovophile mouthbrooders, that is, they just take the eggs into his mouth, others that larvophilen mouthbrooders also take Fish larvae in the mouth. Geophagus argyrostictus , G. taeniopareius and the representatives of the “Geophagus” brasiliensis species group are open breeders .

Systematics

The genus Geophagus was described in 1840 by the Austrian zoologist and ichthyologist Johann Jakob Heckel . During a revision of the genus by the Swedish ichthyologist Sven O. Kullander , some of the species originally assigned to Geophagus were removed from the genus, some were placed in the genus Satanoperca , but some were not assigned to a new genus. In these types, e.g. B. the Brazilian mother-of-pearl perch and other East Brazilian and West Andean cichlids, the generic name “Geophagus” is used in quotation marks. Sister genus of Geophagus is Gymnogeophagus . Together with this genus, Geophagus forms the sub- tribus Geophagina within the tribe Geophagini.

species

Geophagus proximus
Geophagus sp. Tapajos Orange Head, previously undescribed

The FishBase database currently lists 27 species. There are also numerous previously undescribed species.

"Geophagus" brasiliensis species group, coastal rivers of eastern and southeastern Brazil, Uruguay and northeastern Argentina.

"Geophagus" brasiliensis

"Geophagus" crassilabris species group, Panama, Columbia and Venezuela west of the Andes, males with forehead hump in old age.

literature

  • Horst Linke, Wolfgang Staek: American cichlids II, large cichlids. Tetra-Verlag, Bissendorf 1997, ISBN 3-8974-5101-8 .
  • Claus Schaefer: Geophagus. In: Claus Schaefer, Torsten Schröer (Hrsg.): The large lexicon of aquaristics. 2 volumes. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-8001-7497-9 , pp. 403-407.
  • Günther Sterba : The world's freshwater fish. 2nd Edition. Urania, Leipzig / Jena / Berlin 1990, ISBN 3-332-00109-4 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Thomas Weidner: Amazonas - kind for kind, Erdfresser - The genus Geophagus. Natur und Tier - Verlag GmbH 2009, ISBN 978-3866591028
  2. ↑ Thomas Weidner: Reproductive behavior in Geophagus parnaibae , DCG information, edition: No .: 1. 2007, pages: 16 - 23
  3. ↑ Hernán López-Fernándeza, Kirk O. Winemillerc, & Rodney L. Honeycutt: Multilocus phylogeny and rapid radiations in Neotropical cichlid fishes (Perciformes: Cichlidae: Cichlinae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution Volume 55, Issue 3, June 2010, Pages 1070-1086 doi : 10.1016 / j.ympev.2010.02.020
  4. ^ Mattos, JLO & Costa, WJEM (2018): Three new species of the 'Geophagus' brasiliensis species group from the northeast Brazil (Cichlidae, Geophagini). Zoosystematics and Evolution, 94 (2): 325-337. DOI: 10.3897 / zse.94.22685
  5. ↑ Leandro Araujo Argolo, Hernán López-Fernández, Henrique Batalha-Filhoa, Paulo Roberto, Antunes de Mello Affonso: Unraveling the systematics and evolution of the 'Geophagus' brasiliensis (Cichliformes: Cichlidae) species complex. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, May 2020, doi: 10.1016 / j.ympev.2020.106855

Web links

Commons : Geophagus  - collection of images, videos and audio files