''Etroplus'' is a small

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of cichlids 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. 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. (2 ...

'' (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 Cretace ...

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 ...

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 ...

.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, 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 still places it in ''Etroplus'': * '' Etroplus canarensis'' ( F. Day, 1877) (Canara pearlspot) * ''

Etroplus maculatus 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. (2 ...

'' (Bloch, 1795) (Orange chromide) * '' Etroplus suratensis'' ( Bloch, 1790) (Green chromide)

References

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