Cichlasoma is a genus of freshwater fish in the cichlid family. The genus was previously very large, including cichlids from North America, including Central America, and South America.
Crenicichla is a genus of cichlids native to South America commonly known as the pike cichlids. They are found in most tropical and subtropical freshwater habitats between the Andes and the Atlantic.
Apistogramma is a large genus of freshwater fish in the family Cichlidae native to South America, but also commonly kept in aquariums. They are dwarf cichlids that mostly feed on tiny animals and have breeding behaviors that vary depending on the exact species.
Aequidens is a genus of fish in the family Cichlidae found in South America. Formerly a wastebasket genus, as presently defined Aequidens is largely restricted to the Amazon Basin, Orinoco Basin and river basins in The Guianas. The only exceptions are A. plagiozonatus which also occurs in the Paraná Basin, and A. tetramerus which also occurs in the Parnaíba River.
Geophagus is a genus of cichlids that mainly live in South America as far south as Argentina and Uruguay, but a single species, G. crassilabris is from Panama. They are found in a wide range of freshwater habitats. They are part of a group popularly known as eartheaters and mostly feed by picking up mouthfuls of sediment to sift out food items such as invertebrates, plant material and detritus. The largest species reach up to 28 cm (11 in) in standard length. They are mostly kept in aquariums.
Teleocichla is a genus of fish in the family Cichlidae found in the Tapajós, Xingu, Tocantins and Jari River basins, which are part of the Amazon River Basin in Brazil. All species are rheophilic, and highly elongated in shape. They generally are smaller than 9 cm (3.5 in) in length, making them some of the smallest cichlids of the Americas. Only T. preta can grow larger, reaching about 12 cm (4.7 in). Since restricted to areas with fast currents, they are particularly vulnerable to the building of dams, and the Belo Monte Dam may cause the extinction of T. centisquama. Other species recognized as threatened by Brazil's Ministry of the Environment are T. cinderella, T. prionogenys and T. wajapi.
Satanoperca is a small genus of cichlids from South America, where they are known from the Orinoco, Essequibo, Nickerie, Amazon and Paraná–Paraguay river basins. They are mainly found in areas with slow-moving waters, but some species have also been recorded from rapids.
Mesonauta, the flag cichlids, is a small genus of cichlids native to the Amazon, Orinoco, Essequibo, Paraná and Paraguay basins in South America. Mesonauta is included in the subfamily Cichlasomatinae. They occur in various freshwater habitats such as streams and lakes, especially in areas with little water movement and aquatic vegetation. They are generally found in small groups that stay near the water surface. To avoid predators, adults may jump out of the water and juveniles mimic leaves.
The Cichlasomatinae are a subfamily of cichlid fishes, including all cichlids native to the Greater Antilles, United States, Mexico and Central America, and many of the cichlids from South America. The subfamily Cichlasomatinae is often divided into two tribes: Cichlasomatini and Heroini, however some authorities classify these two tribes as part of the wider Neotropical and marginally Nearctic subfamily Cichlinae.
Heroini is a fish tribe from the Cichlasomatinae subfamily in the family Cichlidae (cichlids). All cichlids native to the Greater Antilles, United States, Mexico and northern Central America are members of this tribe. It also includes most cichlid species in southern Central America and several species from South America. A large percentage of its species were formerly placed in the genus Cichlasoma but have since been moved to other genera.
Crenicichla reticulata is a species of cichlid native to South America, where it occurs in the Amazon River of Brazil, Colombia and Peru and the Essequibo River of Guyana.
Chaetobranchini is a tribe of the subfamily Cichlinae, the American cichlids. They are distributed from the river basin of the Orinoco and the Guianas south to the basins of the Río Paraná and Río Paraguay. The two recognised genera of the Chaetobranchini have been classified together with Astronotus in the subfamily Astronotinae but the consensus is that this genus forms the monogeneric tribe, the Astronotini, these two each being one of the seven tribes in Cichlinae.
Geophagini is a tribe of cichlids from the subfamily Cichlinae, the American cichlids. It is the sister taxon to the clade which includes the Cichlasomatini and Heroini. Fishes in the Geophagini are distributed from Panama south to Argentina, it is the most speciose of the seven tribes within the Cichlinae and it is subdivided into three sub-tribes, Acarichthyina, Crenicaratina, and Geophagina which together contain over 200 species. Geophagines show morphological and behavioural specialisations to enable them to sift the substrates within their mouths so that they can separate benthic invertebrates from substrates dominated by sand or silt.
Wallaciia heckeli is a species of cichlid native to South America. It is found in the Amazon River basin and in the Trombetas River close to Cachoeira Porteira, Brazil. This species reaches a length of 5.2 cm (2.0 in).
Saxatilia pellegrini is a species of cichlid native to South America. It is found in the Amazon River basin and in the Aripuanã River basin. This species reaches a length of 15.7 cm (6.2 in).
Crenicichla chicha is a species of cichlid native to South America. It is found in the Rio Papagaio, upper rio Tapajós basin, Mato Grosso, Brazil. This species reaches a length of 13.8 cm (5.4 in).
Crenicichla monicae is a species of cichlid native to South America. It is found in the lower Rio Uaupés and lower Rio Içana, tributaries of the upper Rio Negro in Brazil. This species reaches a length of 27.3 cm (10.7 in).
Saxatilia ploegi is a species of cichlid native to South America. It is found swimming in Brazil. This species reaches a length of 28 cm (11 in).
Wallaciia is a South American genus of cichlids from the tribe Geophagini. The genus was only erected in mid-2023 by four South American ichthyologists and their Swedish colleague Sven O. Kullander. It was named in honour of the British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace, and is a near-tautonym of the chosen type species. Previously, the species placed in Wallaciia belonged to the genus Crenicichla and formed the Crenicichla wallacii species complex. The genus Wallaciia occurs in the Amazon Basin from the Rio Madeira to the Rio Tocantins, but is absent west of Santo Antônio do Içá or the mouth of the Río Putumayo into the Amazon. The genus is also found in the drainage basins of the Orinoco and the Essequibo.
Saxatilia is a South American cichlid genus in the genus group Geophagini. The genus was only erected in mid-2023 by four South American ichthyologists and their Swedish colleague Sven O. Kullander, and the name is a near-tautonym of the chosen type species. Previously, the species placed in Saxatilia belonged to the genus Crenicichla and formed the Crenicichla saxatilis species complex. Of all the genera of pike cichlids, Saxatilia has the widest distribution area. It occurs in the Amazon Basin, in the drainage basin of the Orinoco, in the entire river basin of the Río de la Plata, the Río Paraná and the Río Uruguay, in the coastal rivers of the Guyanas, on the islands of Trinidad and Tobago, in the coastal rivers of northeastern Brazil and in the lagoons Lagoa dos Patos and Lagoa Mirim in the south of Brazil.
