The redhump eartheater ('Geophagus steindachneri') is a species of eartheater cichlid from freshwater habitats in northwestern

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

.
Geophagus steindachneri
'. FishBase. Agustin, L., Kullander, S., & Torres, A. (2001-2008).

Distribution

The redhump eartheater is native to river drainages in northern and western Colombia ( Magdalena, Cauca and Sinú basins), and northwestern

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

(

El Limón River The El Limón River is a river in Zulia in northwestern Venezuela. It flows into the Caribbean Sea. Tributaries include the Socuy River and Guasare River. See also *List of rivers of Venezuela This is a list of rivers in Venezuela. By drainag ...

). It lives in water that is slightly acidic to neutral (6.5 to 7.0 pH) and typically about 24 to 26 °C (75-79 °F). It is stenohaline, found only in mainland freshwater environments.

Food

Wild redhump eartheaters take substrate material into their mouths and sift out inedible bits of sand or gravel, while consuming detritus and small organisms.

Reproduction

Redhump eartheaters are immediate maternal

mouthbrooder Mouthbrooding, also known as oral incubation and buccal incubation, is the care given by some groups of animals to their offspring by holding them in the mouth of the parent for extended periods of time. Although mouthbrooding is performed by a va ...

s. These fish grow relatively quickly, and can be sexed as subadults.

Sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most an ...

is clear - males have a large, red nuptial hump on their heads and grow larger than the females. Mature males develop an iridescence on the scales on their sides and very large humps. Males will display to females by opening their mouths and flaring their gills. Nonreceptive females may be driven from the spawning area. Spawning takes place on a smooth rock or clean sand bed. The female lays one or two eggs, then the male fertilizes them. The female immediately takes the fertilized eggs into her mouth and proceeds to lay more eggs. This continues until spawning is completed. The female carries the eggs until they are free-swimming and have absorbed their yolk sacs, about 2–3 weeks. She eats little to no food during this period. Eventually, she releases them and allows them to search for food, taking them back into her mouth when she feels threatened. The brooding female often signals to her fry when danger is present, and shuts her fry out of her mouth when encouraging then to forage.

Distribution

Food

Reproduction

References

Further reading