Edit Geophagus pellegrini

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Name

Scientific name

Geophagus pellegrini

Described by

Authority Regan, Year 1912

Family

Cichlidae

Common names

Yellowhump Eartheater

Photograph credits

All 6 credited

Summary

The yellowhump eartheater, Geophagus pellegrini, is a cichlid from the Chocó and Antioquia departments of northwestern Colombia. The specie…

Size and aquarium

Maximum size

155mm, standard length

Aquarium size

Minimum length 120 cm, Minimum depth 45 cm

Water

Water conditions

Temperature 25–30°C, pH 5–6

Hardness

0–5dGH

Conductivity

Not recorded

Behaviour

Temperament

Peaceful

Community suitability

Not for a community

Where it lives

Countries, regions, rivers and lakes

Colombia, Atrato, Baudó, San Juan (Colombia)

Writing

Etymology

pellegrini: named for French zoologist Jacques Pellegrin.

Distribution

Type locality is the Río San Juan at Tado, Chocó Department, northwestern Colombia, and this species is endemic to that region plus the neighbouring Department…

Habitat

This species appears to be a relative ecological generalist. During a sampling trip in 1989 it was collected various habitat-types including a narrow (maximum …

Aquarium size

Minimum base dimensions of 120 ∗ 45 cm or equivalent are required.

Maintenance

The most essential item of décor is a soft, sandy substrate so that the fish can browse naturally (see 'Diet'). Coarser materials such as gravel or small pebbl…

Water conditions

Not written yet

Diet

'Geophagus' steindachneri group spp. are benthophagous by nature and mostly employ a feeding strategy whereby mouthfuls of substrate are taken and sifted for e…

Behaviour and compatibility

Unless breeding this species is surprisingly peaceful and will not predate on fishes larger than a few mm in length.

Sexual dimorphism

Adult males are larger in size and have longer unpaired fin lobes than females. Sexually mature males develop a nuchal hump which can be very pronounced in som…

Reproduction

Ovophilous, maternal mouthbrooder forming weak pair bonds during the spawning process only.

Notes

This species is rare in the hobby with the majority of fishes traded under the name forms of 'G.' steindachneri or, occasionally, 'G.' crassilabris but has bec…

This species is rare in the hobby with the majority of fishes traded under the name forms of 'G.' steindachneri or, occasionally, 'G.' crassilabris but has become more readily available in recent years.

Alongside that pair 'G.' pellegrini is a member of the 'G.' steindachneri group of closely-related species with unresolved taxonomic placement and can be told apart from others in the group by its distinctive yellowish colour pattern.

The genus Geophagus was rediagnosed by Kullander (1986) who restricted it to include only those species with paired caudal extensions to the swimbladder lined by 6-12 epihemal 'ribs' plus a greater number of caudal than abdominal vertebrae.

Some former species were moved into the resurrected genus Satanoperca while others, such as the 'Geophagus' brasiliensis and 'G.' steindachneri groups represent distinct groupings still in need of definitive classification.

Geophagus and a number of related genera are often included in the putative subfamily Geophaginae.

Kullander (1998) conducted a morphology-based phylogenetic study in which the neotropical Cichlidae was divided into six subfamilies of which the Geophaginae contained 16 genera divided among three 'tribes':

Acarichthyini - Acarichthys and Guianacara.
Crenicaratini - Biotoecus, Crenicara, Dicrossus and Mazarunia.
Geophagini - Geophagus, Mikrogeophagus, 'Geophagus' brasiliensis group, 'Geophagus' steindachneri group, Gymnogeophagus, Satanoperca, Biotodoma, Apistogramma, Apistogrammoides and Taeniacara.

Later molecular studies by Farias et al. (1999, 2000, 2001) resulted in the additions of Crenicichla and Teleocichla to the Geophaginae, a result supported by López-Fernández et al. (2005) who conducted the most detailed molecular analysis of the grouping to date including 16 of the 18 genera and 30 species.

However their conclusions regarding interrelationships between genera did vary somewhat from previous hypotheses and can be summarised by the following loosely-defined groups:

- a weakly-supported sister group relationship between Acarichthys and Guianacara.
- a well-supported 'Satanoperca clade' comprising Satanoperca, Apistogramma, Apistogrammoides and Taeniacara.
- a 'big clade' with Geophagus, Mikrogeophagus, 'Geophagus' brasiliensis group, 'Geophagus' steindachneri group, Gymnogeophagus, Biotodoma, Crenicara and Dicrossus.
- a 'crenicarine clade' with Biotoecus and Crenicichla.

No representatives of Teleocichla or Mazarunia were included in the study but the former is well-established as sister to Crenicichla while the latter has grouped closely with Dicrossus and Crenicara in earlier works.

The other main conclusions of the paper are confirmation that Geophaginae is a monophyletic group exhibiting strong signs of having undergone rapid adaptive radiation (diversification of a species or single ancestral type into several forms that are each adaptively specialised to a specific environmental niche).

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References

6 on this profile

Name

Scientific name

Described by

Family

Common names

Photograph credits

Summary

Size and aquarium

Maximum size

Aquarium size

Water

Water conditions

Hardness

Conductivity

Behaviour

Temperament

Social needs

Community suitability

Where it lives

Countries, regions, rivers and lakes

Writing

Etymology

Distribution

Habitat

Aquarium size

Maintenance

Water conditions

Diet

Behaviour and compatibility

Sexual dimorphism

Reproduction

Notes

References

References