''Heros liberifer'' is a species of

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

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 ...

native to

lentic A lake ecosystem or lacustrine ecosystem includes biotic component, biotic (living) plants, animals and micro-organisms, as well as abiotic component, abiotic (non-living) physical and chemical interactions. Lake ecosystems are a prime example ...

habitats, especially

flooded forest Freshwater swamp forests, or flooded forests, are forests which are inundated with freshwater, either permanently or seasonally. They normally occur along the lower reaches of rivers and around freshwater lakes. Freshwater swamp forests are found ...

s, in the upper and middle

Orinoco The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers , with 76.3 percent of it in Venezuela and the remainder in Colombia. It is the fourth largest river in the wor ...

basin in South America. Up until 2014 the liberifer was incorrectly believed to be the previously defined H. severus that was defined in 1840 by Heckel ite Heros severus can be differentiated by having a partially formed band unlike other Heros as well as having a red shoulders. This band was originally defined by Heckel however it was dismissed as an anomaly by Kullander(1986) in the collected species. With the finding of the true H. severum, Staek & Shindler officially classified the liberifer so as to make room for the true H. severus.

Description

H. liberifer can be distinguished from other Heros species due to its small spots that form horizontal lines across the lower half of its body. Other traits of the liberifer are a caudal spot in adult specimen as well as, generally narrower lips than other species.

Aquarium trade

This species is uncommon in the

aquarium An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...

trade. The species generally found in the aquarium trade ''

Heros efasciatus ''Heros efasciatus'' is a species of tropical freshwater cichlid native to the Amazon basin in South America. It is commonly found in the aquarium trade, often in its gold colored variation rather than the wild-type olive green one. Diet ''Hero ...

'' and its man-made color morphs(red and gold) as well as the unspecified H. sp.'rotkeil'.

References

* 2014 Dittrich, Peter - "Eine Frage Herr Heckel: Wer ist wirklich Ihr Heros severus?" DCG Informationen 45 (1): S. 21 - 24. http://dcg-encyclopedia.de/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/2014-01-S-21-24.pdf * 2015 Dittrich, Peter - "A question Mr Heckel: Who is really your Heros severus?". Buntbarsche Bulletin. (n. 283), pp. 15–17 {{Taxonbar, from=Q21268428 liberifer Taxa named by Wolfgang Staeck Taxa named by Ingo Schindler Fish described in 2015