''Parachromis managuensis'' is a large species of

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

freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include ...

habitats in Central America, where it is found from

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

. The

binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

refers to Lake Managua in Nicaragua, from which the holotype was obtained. It is a food fish and is also found 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 where it is variously known as the jaguar cichlid, managuense cichlid, managua cichlid, guapote tigre, Aztec cichlid, spotted guapote and jaguar guapote. In Costa Rica it is known as the ''guapote tigre''.

Description

''P. managuensis'' is a robust fish with a silvery or golden-green to purple colour, with a darker moss green shade at the dorsum. The sides show a purple iridescence and the belly is whitish or yellowish. A series of several large black dots then run horizontally along the lateral line area. The fins are often a dark to black colouration, especially when in spawning colouration. The most distinguished feature is a black stripe than run from the eye to the opercular margin. Males grow to a total length of and females to . The female also lacks the elongated extensions to the dorsal fins.

Ecology

''P. managuensis'' inhabits lakes and prefers turbid waters with mud bottoms and is tolerant to eutrophic and hypoxic conditions. It is a

carnivorous A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose food and energy requirements derive from animal tissues (mainly muscle, fat and other sof ...

, highly predatory species. Adults feed mainly on small fish, while juveniles rely on a variety of

macroinvertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate s ...

s. It prefers turbid, eutrophic lakes, often found in warm water depleted of oxygen. Its native

substrate Substrate may refer to: Physical layers *Substrate (biology), the natural environment in which an organism lives, or the surface or medium on which an organism grows or is attached ** Substrate (locomotion), the surface over which an organism lo ...

is mud-bottoms, but it can also be found in ponds and springs with sandy bottoms covered in plant debris. The species inhabits lakes in a tropical climate and prefers water with a 7.0–8.7 pH, a water hardness of 10–15

dGH Degrees of general hardness (dGH or °GH) is a unit of water hardness, specifically of general hardness. General hardness is a measure of the concentration of divalent metal ions such as calcium (Ca2+) and magnesium (Mg2+) per volume of water. S ...

, and a temperature range of 25 to 36 °C (77 to 97 °F).

Distribution

The natural distribution of ''P. managuensis'' goes from the Ulúa River in Honduras to

Matina River Matina River is a river of Costa Rica.Instituto Costarricense de Turismo ...

basin in Costa Rica. However, it has been introduced in other countries in Central America, as well as in the United States, as a food source, for aquarism and to control fish populations.

Conservation status

This species has been assessed by the IUCN Red List as least-concern species. It occurs in the Maquenque National Wildlife Refuge.

References

External links

The Jaguar Cichlid – Beautiful Predator Tropical FishAquaticdatabase entry for ''Parachromis managuensis'' (Managuense cichlid).

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parachromis Managuensis managuensis Fish of Costa Rica Fish of Honduras Fish of Nicaragua Freshwater fish of Central America Fish described in 1867 Taxa named by Albert Günther