''Teleocichla'' is a

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 ...

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Cichlidae 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 thi ...

found in the

Tapajós The Tapajós ( pt, Rio Tapajós ) is a river in Brazil. It runs through the Amazon Rainforest and is a major tributary of the Amazon River. When combined with the Juruena River, the Tapajós is approximately long. It is one of the largest clearw ...

, Xingu,

Tocantins Tocantins () is one of the 26 states of Brazil. It is the newest state, formed in 1988 and encompassing what had formerly been the northern two-fifths of the state of Goiás. Tocantins covers and had an estimated population of 1,496,880 in 20 ...

and

Jari River The Jari River, or Jary River ( pt, Rio Jari), is a northern tributary of the Amazon River on the border between the states of Pará and Amapá in northeastern Brazil. It is in the most downstream regions of the Amazon Basin and borders the Gui ...

basins, which are part of the

Amazon River Basin The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries of Bolivi ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. All species are

rheophilic A rheophile is an animal that prefers to live in fast-moving water. Examples of rheophilic animals Insects *Many aquatic insects living in riffles require current to survive. *''Epeorus sylvicola'', a rheophilic mayfly species ( Ephemeroptera) ...

, and highly elongated in shape. They generally are smaller than in length, making them some of the smallest cichlids of the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

. Only ''T. preta'' can grow larger, reaching about . Since restricted to areas with fast currents (such as cataracts and rapids), they are particularly vulnerable to the building of dams, and the

Belo Monte Dam The Belo Monte Dam (''formerly known as'' Kararaô) is a hydroelectric dam complex on the northern part of the Xingu River in the state of Pará, Brazil. After its completion, with the installation of its 18th turbine, in November 2019, the inst ...

may cause the extinction of ''T. centisquama''. Other species recognized as

threatened Threatened species are any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of ''critical depensat ...

by Brazil's Ministry of the Environment are ''T. cinderella'', ''T. prionogenys'' and ''T. wajapi''.

ICMBio The Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (Portuguese: ''Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade'', ICMBio) is the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment's administrative arm."Brazilian Federal Law 11.516/2007 (Por ...

(Ministry of the Environment, Brazil)
Portaria MMA nº 445, de 17 de dezembro de 2014
Lista de Especies Ameaçadas - Saiba Mais. Retrieved 1 December 2018.

Species

There are currently 9 recognized species in this genus, but several

undescribed species In taxonomy, an undescribed taxon is a taxon (for example, a species) that has been discovered, but not yet formally described and named. The various Nomenclature Codes specify the requirements for a new taxon to be validly described and named. U ...

are known. * '' Teleocichla centisquama'' Zuanon & I. Sázima ( fr), 2002 * '' Teleocichla centrarchus'' Kullander, 1988 * '' Teleocichla cinderella'' Kullander, 1988 * '' Teleocichla gephyrogramma'' Kullander, 1988 * '' Teleocichla monogramma'' Kullander, 1988 * '' Teleocichla preta'' H. R. Varella, Zuanon, Kullander & López-Fernández, 2016Varella, H.R., Zuanon, J., Kullander, S.O. & López-Fernández, H. (2016)
''Teleocichla preta'', a new species of cichlid from the Rio Xingu Basin in Brazil (Teleostei: Cichlidae).
''Journal of Fish Biology, 89 (3): 1551–1569.'' * '' Teleocichla prionogenys'' Kullander, 1988 * '' Teleocichla proselytus'' Kullander, 1988 * '' Teleocichla wajapi'' H. R. Varella & C. L. R. Moreira, 2013Varella, H.R. & Moreira, C.R. (2013)
''Teleocichla wajapi'', a new species of cichlid from the rio Jari, Brazil, with comments on ''T. centrarchus'' Kullander, 1988 (Teleostei: Cichlidae).
''Zootaxa, 3641 (2): 177–187.''

References

Cichlid genera Geophagini Freshwater fish genera Taxa named by Sven O. Kullander {{Cichlidae-stub