''Etroplus'' is a small

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

cichlid Cichlids are fish from the family Cichlidae in the order Cichliformes. Cichlids were traditionally classed in a suborder, the Labroidei, along with the wrasses ( Labridae), in the order Perciformes, but molecular studies have contradicted this ...

s native to southern

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. Together with ''

Pseudetroplus The orange chromide (''Pseudetroplus maculatus'') is a species of cichlid fish that is endemic to freshwater and brackish streams, lagoons and estuaries in southern India and Sri Lanka.Pethiyagoda, R., Maduwage, K. & Manamendra-Arachchi, K. (2014 ...

'' (which formerly was included in ''Etroplus''), they are the only ciclids of this region. Their closest living relatives are ''

Paretroplus ''Paretroplus'' is a genus of fishes in the cichlid family, all of which are endemic to lakes and rivers of Madagascar. The vast majority are threatened and restricted to the northwestern part of the island.Sparks, J. S. (2008). ''Phylogeny of t ...

'' from

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

. These two lineages must have separated during the

Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era ( ), also called the Age of Reptiles, the Age of Conifers, and colloquially as the Age of the Dinosaurs is the second-to-last era of Earth's geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceo ...

already, as Madagascar and the

Indian Plate The Indian Plate (or India Plate) is a minor tectonic plate straddling the equator in the Eastern Hemisphere. Originally a part of the ancient continent of Gondwana, the Indian Plate broke away from the other fragments of Gondwana , began mov ...

had separated by the end of the

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...

.Sparks, J.S. (2004): Molecular phylogeny and biogeography of the Malagasy and South Asian cichlids (Teleostei: Perciformes: Cichlidae). ''Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 30 (3): 599–614.''

Species

There are currently two recognized species in this genus. The third species, the

orange chromide The orange chromide (''Pseudetroplus maculatus'') is a species of cichlid fish that is endemic to freshwater and brackish streams, lagoons and estuaries in southern India and Sri Lanka.Pethiyagoda, R., Maduwage, K. & Manamendra-Arachchi, K. (2014 ...

, was moved to ''Pseudetroplus'' in 2014.Pethiyagoda, R., Maduwage, K. & Manamendra-Arachchi, K. (2014): Validation of the South Asian cichlid genus ''Pseudetroplus'' Bleeker (Pisces: Cichlidae). ''Zootaxa, 3838 (5): 595–600.'' but

FishBase FishBase is a global species database of fish species (specifically finfish). It is the largest and most extensively accessed online database on adult finfish on the web.

still places it in ''Etroplus'': * ''

Etroplus canarensis ''Etroplus'' is a small genus of cichlids native to southern India and Sri Lanka. Together with ''Pseudetroplus'' (which formerly was included in ''Etroplus''), they are the only ciclids of this region. Their closest living relatives are ''Paret ...

'' ( F. Day, 1877) (Canara pearlspot) * ''

Etroplus maculatus The orange chromide (''Pseudetroplus maculatus'') is a species of cichlid fish that is Endemism, endemic to freshwater and brackish water, brackish streams, lagoons and estuary, estuaries in southern India and Sri Lanka.Pethiyagoda, R., Maduwage, ...

'' (Bloch, 1795) (Orange chromide) * ''

Etroplus suratensis The green chromide (''Etroplus suratensis'') is a species of cichlid fish that is native to fresh and brackish water habitats in some parts in India such as Kerala, Goa, Chilika Lake in Odisha and Sri Lanka. The species was first described by ...

'' (

Bloch Bloch is a surname of German origin. Notable people with this surname include: A–F * (1859-1914), French rabbi *Adele Bloch-Bauer (1881-1925), Austrian entrepreneur *Albert Bloch (1882–1961), American painter * (born 1972), German motor journal ...

, 1790) (Green chromide)

References

Etroplinae Cichlid fish of Asia Freshwater fish genera Cichlid genera Taxa named by Georges Cuvier {{Cichlidae-stub