Rheoheros
| Rheoheros | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Rheoheros | ||||||||||||
| McMahan & Matamoros , 2015 |
Rheoheros is a genus of Central American cichlids found in rivers with strong to fast currents on the Caribbean side of Central America. The distribution area of the genus is in the river areas of Río Grijalva and Río Tulijá in southeast Mexico.
features
Rheoheros species are 15 to 25 cm long and have an elongated body that is adapted to flowing water. Outwardly, they are somewhat similar to the Paraneetroplus species, but their head is not so high and they have a unique pattern of dark spots and bars on the back and the middle sides of the body, which is not found in Paraneetroplus . The underside of the Rheoheros species is monochrome.
Way of life
Rheoheros species feed on growth and the invertebrates living in them. They are cave breeders . The initiative for courtship comes from the female in both species. Above all, the female takes care of the brood, while the male defends the territory .
Systematics
The genus Rheoheros currently consists of two species.
- Rheoheros coeruleus (Stawikowski & Werner, 1987)
- Rheoheros lentiginosus (Steindachner, 1864) (type species)
Both species originally belonged to Theraps and were transferred to the newly established genus Rheoheros in mid-2015 , as they are the sister group of Oscura , while the species remaining in Theraps are in a sister group relationship to Kihnichthys . “Rheo” is the Greek verb for “to flow” and refers to the habitat of the genus, “ Heros ” is the name of a South American cichlid genus, to which Central American cichlids were previously classified.
literature
- Horst Linke, Wolfgang Staek: American cichlids II, large cichlids. Tetra-Verlag, Bissendorf 1997, ISBN 3-89745-101-8 , pages 413-416.
- Caleb D. McMahan, Wilfredo A. Matamoros, Kyle R. Piller & Prosanta Chakrabarty: Taxonomy and systematics of the herichthyins (Cichlidae: Tribe Heroini), with the description of eight new Middle American Genera. Zootaxa 3999 (2): 211-234. doi: 10.11646 / zootaxa.3999.2.3