# Beautiful geophagus family



## darrenwj (Apr 12, 2013)

Geophagus Family

Some of the most peaceful of the cichlids, the Geophagus family gets its name from the Greek, Geo and Phagus meaning Earth Eater. Some of the species names are of local cultural significance such as Jurupari after a river God worshipped by the local Indian tribes in the region where it is found. True to its name it loves to dig around in the substrate looking for food.

The range of these fish is vast, covering as it does most of tropical South America. This, and the fact that there are probably numerous local colour variations, often causes some difficulty with accurate species identification. Some capable of reaching 25cm (10") they come from naturally soft, neutral to slightly acid water, in the temperature range 26° - 28°C. Today however most fish are farm raised and are usually very tolerant of harder water with a higher pH.

The do well in captivity and can be kept in a community tank with most of the medium - large community species. The Jurupari for example has a silver/green body color with black speckles and dark green stripes along the crest of the nose and back. The scales will take on an opalescent sheen as the fish matures. While it is difficult to sex the Jurupari, males will generally be more slender and slightly more aggressive. As an omnivore, this cichlid will accept most prepared foods, especially bloodworms and shrimp.

Does eveeryone likes Geophagus species ? pls coment your .


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## dstuer (Mar 27, 2013)

Another genus in the Geophagine family is Gymnogeophagus, from sub-tropical S America. They can take temps down below 50'F and harder water. They remain a bit smaller and prefer harems of 1 male to multiple females
Gy quilero 

paso pache

from the same family, I also like Acarichthys and Guianacar from northern S America


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## Mr Chromedome (Feb 12, 2013)

I do wish folks would stop using the name "family" when refering to a subfamily, tribe, complex, or even genus. The Family that _Geophagus_ belongs to is called Cichlidae. Yes, ALL Cichlids are in the same FAMILY. The word has a precise meaning in taxonomy, and I see it being abused on this forum and others all the time. There are many subfamilies, and within those, many genera (plural of genus). However, in between subfamily and Genus are official and unofficial groupings. Officially, you also have tribes; unofficially, there are "complexes".

The Earth Eaters are mostly placed in the subfamily Geophaginae, often called Geophagines. The genus _Retroculus_ was removed from this subfamily and placed in its own, Retroculinae. However, it is still considered part of the Earth Eater "complex". So Complex, being an unofficial grouping, can cross various lines of official classification.

Please, if you want to pretend that you know about something, at least learn the correct terminology.


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## SmellinFishy (Mar 17, 2013)

Mr Chromedome said:


> I do wish folks would stop using the name "family" when refering to a subfamily, tribe, complex, or even genus. The Family that _Geophagus_ belongs to is called Cichlidae. Yes, ALL Cichlids are in the same FAMILY. The word has a precise meaning in taxonomy, and I see it being abused on this forum and others all the time. There are many subfamilies, and within those, many genera (plural of genus). However, in between subfamily and Genus are official and unofficial groupings. Officially, you also have tribes; unofficially, there are "complexes".
> 
> The Earth Eaters are mostly placed in the subfamily Geophaginae, often called Geophagines. The genus _Retroculus_ was removed from this subfamily and placed in its own, Retroculinae. However, it is still considered part of the Earth Eater "complex". So Complex, being an unofficial grouping, can cross various lines of official classification.
> 
> Please, if you want to pretend that you know about something, at least learn the correct terminology.


Hello! I want to learn more about what fish belongs where, do you know if there is a cichlid family tree poster or document to help?


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## Mr Chromedome (Feb 12, 2013)

I don't know of any complete display of the Cichlidae family tree, however, there are several online sites for finding the current subfamily classification of a given species. First to mind is http://www.fishbase.org, they sometimes follow more trendy classification, that is, things that are in hobby literature but are not considered proper scientific papers. They list the subfamily at the top of each species description. There is also the advantage of being able to search by common names, though no one can include all the common names for some species.

another site, one that goes by strict interpretation of the Code, is the Calacademy Catalog of Fishes. I tend to follow the classifications given here, as they reflect actual scientific publications following the current ICZN, and not "expert" opinions expressed/published improperly. There is no breeding/distribution data here, only the taxonomic history. Subfamily is listed in the last line of each, along with the current *scientifically *valid Genus/species name. Because this site is scientifically oriented, it does not search by common names.

Both of these will cross reference old names to current names.

There is also a lot of information at http://www.cichlidae.com, but much of that is inaccessible if you are not a paid member. Whether or not it is worth the membership is something you have to decide for yourself. Generally, if you are heavily into cichlids it is probably worth it, as there are also many articles on breeding and and other materials. However, the species catalog here is also somewhat slanted toward the trendy classifications and opinions, rather than actual scientific papers. It is, nevertheless, one of, if not the most complete catalog of Cichlid species to include photographs that are vetted by experts in the various groups.


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## BC in SK (Aug 11, 2012)

Mr Chromedome said:


> Calacademy Catalog of Fisheshttp://www.cichlidae.com


By the way, these 2 sites list Cichlinae as the sub-family(like all SA/CA cichlids), while fishbase has Geophaginae listed as the sub-family. Cichlidae.com has Geophagani listed as the tribe ( ranking above genus, below sub-family); I don't think the other 2 sites have tribes listed.


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## CrypticLifeStyle (Dec 14, 2009)

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Cichlidae
Subfamily: Geophaginae
Genus: Geophagus

eh?

Geophagus, my favorite genus fish species for sure


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## BC in SK (Aug 11, 2012)

CrypticLifeStyle said:


> Kingdom: Animalia
> Phylum: Chordata
> Class: Actinopterygii
> Order: Perciformes
> ...


That is how fishbase shows the classification of a Geophagus species. Sub-family differs from other 2 sites mentioned in this thread. Outside of fishbase, I have never seen or heard of SA/CA cichlids as belonging to any sub-family other then Cichlinae.

Calcadaemy catalog of fishes:
Family: Cichlidae
Subfamily: Cichlinae

Cichlidae.com (Cichlid room companion):
Family: Cichlidae
Subfamily: Cichlinae
Tribe: Geophagani


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## CrypticLifeStyle (Dec 14, 2009)

I was always under the impression that Cichlinae is in reference to the predatory subfamily's species of South America with elongated bodies as wiki would put it, and several sub family species for south america, and same for central.


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## BC in SK (Aug 11, 2012)

CrypticLifeStyle said:


> Cichlinae is in reference to the predatory subfamily's species of South America with elongated bodies as wiki would put it


Well, like I said, according to fishbase....that wiki follows the same, I don't think means too much. Lumping the genera Cichla, Crenicichla and Teleocichla, at the exclusion of other genera, at the sub-family level isn't supported by any DNA study that I know of. Cichla are not even in the same tribe as Crenicichla or Teleocichla. Fishbase does not specialalize on cichlids, but rather is for all species of fish. They are not neccessarily accurate, nor 'up' on the classification of cichlids. I would suspect that in this case, it is very outdated.....and quite contrary to the DNA evidence.


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## CrypticLifeStyle (Dec 14, 2009)

South American, and Central American data is definitely outdated. Think thats part of my lure to them opposed to africans, more mystery, and fresher to science then africans. So many undescribed species


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