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Common Cichlid Species

 

Angelfish (Pterophyllum scalare)- Originating from the Amazon, Orinoco, and Essequibo rivers in South America, the angelfish has become one of the more popular cichlids because of its unique, elegant appearance, inquisitive nature, and mild-mannered disposition.

 

Oscar fish (Astronotus ocellatus)- Also called Oscar, tiger oscar, velvet cichlid, or marble cichlid, the oscar fish comes from South Americaand have even been considered food fish. Hardy and tough, they can tolerate a wide range of water conditions and high toxin levels. This fast-growing fish (it can grow beyond 18 inches) will eat a range of food, including pellets, live food, and flakes. Make sure you feed themenough live food so they stay healthy and their colors stay bright.

 

 

Convict cichlid (Archocentrus nigrofasciatus) - This type of cichlid is a good fish for beginners because of its small size and its ease in keeping and breeding. They are not fussy about food or water conditions. When keeping convict cichlids, one needs to recreate their original habitat, putting in rocks and artificial caves-they’ll eventually use these for breeding-into the aquarium. They tend to burrow intothe substrate, so external filtration is best for this type of cichlid.

 

 

Discus fish (Symphysodon sppi) – Another favorite among aquarium enthusiasts, the discus fish is probably one of the more socialized cichlids. They are probably one of the few schooling cichlids and, in their original habitat, live in large groups. They require much social interaction for them to enhance their character, so when getting discus fish, it is wise to get more than two of them. Their breeding tanks are simple at best-no substrate needed, simple filtration system, and a lot of spawning sites. The aquarium water should be soft enough to let the eggs develop properly.

 

 

Jack Dempsey – Named after a boxing heavyweight, Jack Dempsey cichlids are easy to breed and feed and can live up to 10 years. It is their stunning coloration that piques people’s interest. When they are young, Jack Dempsey cichlids show a tan or light gray color with some turquoise specks. As they mature, their colors turns purple gray with some blue and green highlights while its specks turn gold.

 

 

Lately I have been asked a lot about Cichlid species, so I thought I would put together a bit of a list including their common names as well as their scientific names.

Cichlid ( sik-a-lid ) fish stem from what’s known as the Cichlidae (sik-li-day) family. The Cichlidae family is an extremely large & diverse family having nearly 2000 specimens described and it’s believed the still many more to be described scientifically.They would have to be the largest family of vertebrates.The exact number of existing cichlid species is an extremely hard thing to estimate because of the constantly found new specimens.These fish come in some of the strangest looking shapes to the most breath taking colors and throw in some peculiar mannerisms and it makes for quite the character.

Cichlids are found all across the globe ranging from Africa throughout Asia to North and South America.Cichlid fish which tend to be kept in captivation can come from the African waters as well as the Amazon basin area and also from some the famous lakes like Lake Malawi, Great African Rift Lake and Lake Tanganyi.Presently there is a massive diversity in the behavior and eating habits of these fish because of the greater number of types.

The majority of cichlids are herbivorous fishes and feed on vegetation or even algae. The other cichlid varieties are generally omnivorous, will eat anything or they are carnivorous fishes that live on other fish & insects.The broad range of eating habits has really allowed cichlid fish to occupy numerous habitats. Cichlid fish do not survive in salt water although funnily enough their ancestors did.

A Few  cichlid kinds are fairly meaty in size and many among them tend to be referred to as game types. Consequently a multitude of cichlid types are farmed for food. On the flip side, we can’t deny the amount of fish tank enthusiasts that enjoy cichlid species because of their eye-catching colorings and tendencies.Angelfish, Oscar fish, Discus fish and Convict cichlid are among the most popular with aquarium enthusiasts.

African Cichlid Species

Most of the Cichlid types that we see in captivity today come from the African Amazonian regions. Sowith that said, on with the listings:

Lake Malawi

Lake Malawi is one of the largest lakes known to man and is home to over 300 varieties of cichlid fish. Here are some of the better known of the cichlid species.

 

Profiled Cichlids with Scientific names

Cichlids
Common	Scientific
Auratus	Melanochromis auratus
Angelfish	Pterophyllum scalare
Blue Acara	Aequidens pulcher
Cockatoo Dwarf Cichlid	Apistogramma cacatuoides
Convict	Amatitlania (Archocentrus) nigrofasciata
Discus	Symphysodon aequifasciata
Eartheater	Satanoperca jurupari
Electric Yellow Labidochromis	Labidochromis caeruleus
Fairy Cichlid	Neolamprologus brichardi
Festivum	Mesonauta festivus
Firemouth	Thorichthys (Cichlasoma) meeki
Flower Horn Fish	Hybrid species
Frontosa	Cyphotilapia frontosa
Giraffe Cichlid	Nimbochromis venustus
Green Terror	Aequidens rivulatus
Jack Dempsey	Rocio octofasciata,(Cichlasoma octofasciatum)
Keyhole Cichlid	Cleithracara maronii
Kribensis	Pelvicachromis pulcher
Oscar	Astronotus ocellatus
Pseudotropheus ornatus	Pseudotropheus elongatus-ornatus
Rainbow Cichlid	Herotilapia Multispinosa
Ram	Mikrogeophagus ramirezi
Red devil	Amphilophus labiatum
Redfin kandango	Copadichromis borleyi
Red Striped Eartheater	Geophagus surinamensis
Severum	Heros efasciatus
Uaru	Uaru amphiacanthoides
Zebra cichlid	Maylandia zebra (Pseudotropheus)

Livebearers
Common	Scientific
Black Molly (and other mollies)	Poecilia latipinna, Poecilia sphenops
Guppy	Poecilia reticulata
Platy	Xiphophorus maculatus
Swordtail	Xiphophorus hellerii
Wrestling halfbeak	Dermogenys pusilla

Tetras (Characoidei)
Common	Scientific
Anostomus	Anostomus anostomus
Banded Leporinus	Leporinus fasciatus
Black-finned Pacu	Colossoma macropomum
Black Neon Tetra	Hyphessobrycon herbertaxelrodi
Blackskirt (Goldskirt) Tetra	Gymnocorymbus ternetzi
Bleeding Heart Tetra	Hyphessobrycon erythrostigma
Cardinal Tetra	Paracheirodon axelrodi
Congo Tetra	Phenacogrammus interruptus
Glass Bloodfin Tetra	Prionobrama filigera
Glowlight Tetra	Hemigrammus erthrozonus
Lemon Tetra	Hyphessobrycon pulchripinnis
Marbled Hatchet	Carnegiella strigata
Neon Tetra	Paracheirodon innesi
Penguin Fish	Thayeria boehlkei
Pinktail Chalceus	Chalceus macrolepidotus
Red-Bellied Piranha	Pygocentrus nattereri
Rummy Nose Tetra	Hemigrammus rhodostomus
Serpae Tetra	Hyphessobrycon serpae
Silver Dollar	Metynnis argenteus
Silver Hatchet	Gasteropelecus sternicla
Slender Tetra	Iguanodectes spilurus

Barbs, Danios and Rasbora (Cyprinids)
Common	Scientific
American Flag Fish	Jordanella floridae
Arulius Barb	Puntius arulius
Bala Shark	Balantiocheilos melanopterus
Chinese Algae Eater	Gyrinocheilus aymonieri
Denison Barb, Red Line Torpedo Barb	Puntius denisoni
Dwarf Rasbora	Boraras maculatus
Harlequin Rasbora	Trigonostigma heteromorpha
Red-Finned Shark (Rainbow Shark)	Epalzeorhynchos frenatum
Red-Tailed Black Shark	Epalzeorhynchos bicolor
Rosy Barb	Barbus conchonius
Siamese Algae Eater	Crossocheilus siamensis
Tee Barb	Barbus lateristriga
Tiger Barb	Puntius tetrazona
White Cloud	Tanichthys albonubes
Zebra Danio	Danio rerio

Anabantids
Common	Scientific
Betta	Betta splendens
Dwarf Gourami	Colisa lalia
Honey Gourami	Colisa chuna, Colisa sota
Kissing Gourami	Helostoma temmincki
Opaline Gourami	Trichogaster trichopterus
Paradise Fish	Macropodus opercularis
Pearl Gourami	Trichogaster leeri
Sparkling Gourami	Trichopsis pumila
Spotted Climbing Perch	Ctenopoma acutirostre

Loach
Common	Scientific
Angelicus Botia Loach	Botia kubotai
Blue Loach	Botia modesta
Burmese Border Loach	Schistura Mahnerti
Chain Loach	Yasuhikotakia sidthimunki
Cheni Loach	Psuedogastromyzon cheni
Clown loach	Chromobotia macracanthus
Dojo, Weather loach	Misgurnus anguillicaudatus
Horsefaced loach	Acanthopsis choirorhynchus
Kuhli Loach	Pangio kuhlii
Yo yo loach	Botia almorhae
Zebra Loach	Botia striata

Catfish- common terms
Common	Scientific
Adolph’s Cory	Corydoras Adolfoi
Adonis – L155 Pleco	Acanthicus Adonis
Bristlenose Pleco	Ancistrus temminckii
Bronze Catfish	Corydoras aeneus
Channel Catfish	Ictalurus punctatus
Chinese Algae Eater	Gyrinocheilus aymonieri
Clown Pleco	Panaque maccus
Columbian Shark	Sciades seemanni (Arius seemani)
Common Pleco	Hypostomus plecostomus
Electric Catfish	Malapterurus electricus
Farlowella Cats	Farlowella acus (SP)
Giant Black Upside Down Asian Catfish	Mystus leucophasis
Oto Cat	Otocinclus sp.
Panda Cory	Corydoras panda
Pictus Cat	Pimelodus pictus
Pygmy Cory	Corydoras Pygmaeus
Skunk cory	Corydoras arcuatus
Sudan squeaker	Synodontis Frontosus

Miscellaneous species
Common	Scientific
African Clawed frog	Xenopus laevis, etc.
African Dwarf Frog	Hymenochirus Sp.
Amano algae eating shrimp	Caridina multidentata (Caridina japonica)
American Flag Fish	Jordanella floridae
Apple Snail	Pomacea bridgesii
Archer fish	Toxotes jaculatrix
Arowana	Osteoglossum bicirrhosum
Black crappie	Pomoxis nigromaculatus
Black Ghost Knife	Apteronotus albifrons
Boesemani Rainbowfish	Melanotaenia Boesemani
Bumble Bee Goby	Brachygobius Xanthozona
Butterfly Fish	Pantodon buchholzi
Celebes rainbow	Marosatherina ladigesi
Cherry Red shrimp	Neocaridina denticulata sinensis?
Clown-Knife Fish	Chitala chitala
Dragon Goby, Dragon Fish	Gobioides broussonnetii
Dwarf Neon Rainbowfish	Melanotaenia Praecox
Dwarf Puffer	Carinotetraodon travancoricus
Dwarf Rainbow	Melanotaenia maccullochi
Elephantnose	Gnathonemus petersi
Fahaka Puffer	Tetraodon lineatus
Ghost Shrimp	Palaeomonetes species
Green Puffer	Tetraodon nigroviridis
Knight Goby	Stigmatogobius sadanundio
Lake Kutubu Rainbowfish (Turquoise Rainbow)	Melanotaenia Lacustris
Limpit fish	Humanicus fishicus strangeicus
Mbu Puffer	Tetraodon mbu
Mudskipper	Periophthalmus argentilineatus
Peacock Gudgeon	Tateurndina ocellicauda
Red claw crab	Perisesarma bidens
Reedfish / Ropefish	Erpetoichthys calabaricus
Scat	Scatophagus argus
Senegal (Cuvier) bichir	Polypterus senegalus
Tire-Track Eel	Mastacembelus armatus

 

 

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