Peacock bass

Not to be confused with peacock cichlid.

Peacock bass
An adult butterfly peacock bass
juvenile Orinoco peacock bass
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Cichliformes
Family: Cichlidae
Tribe: Cichlini
Genus: Cichla
Bloch & Schneider, 1801[1]
Type species
Cichla ocellaris
Bloch & Schneider, 1801
Synonyms

Acharnes Holmberg, 1891[2]

Peacock bass or Brazilian tucunaré are large freshwater cichlids of the genus Cichla.[3][4] These are diurnal predatory fishes native to the Amazon and Orinoco basins, as well as rivers of the Guianas, in tropical South America.[2] They are sometimes referred to in English by their Brazilian name tucunaré or their Spanish name pavon.[4] Despite the common name and their superficial similarity, they are not closely related to other fish known as bass, such as the North American largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides).[5][6]

Peacock bass are important food fish and are also considered valuable game fish. This has resulted in their accidental (escapees from fish farms) or deliberate (release by fishers) introduction to regions outside their native range,[7] both elsewhere in South America,[8][9] and in warm parts of North America and Asia.[10][11] Singles have been caught elsewhere, including Australia,[12] but do not appear to have become established there.[13] Where established as an introduced species, they may become invasive and damage the ecosystem because of their highly predatory behavior, feeding extensively on smaller native fish.[14][15]

The largest species in the genus, the speckled peacock bass (C. temensis), reaches up to 13 kg (29 lb) in weight and 1 m (3.3 ft) in length, possibly making it the largest species of cichlid[16] (others suggest that record goes to the African giant cichlid, Boulengerochromis microlepis).[17] Other peacock bass species are smaller.[18] They are sometimes kept in aquariums, but even the smaller species require a very large tank.[6][19]

  1. ^ "Cichla". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 30 January 2006.
  2. ^ a b Kullander, Sven; Efrem Ferreira (2006). "A review of the South American cichlid genus Cichla, with descriptions of nine new species (Teleostei: Cichlidae)". Ichthyological Explorations of Freshwaters. 17 (4).
  3. ^ Willis, Stuart; Izeni Farias; Guillermo Orti (2012). "Simultaneous delimitation of species and quantification of interspecific hybridization in Amazonian peacock cichlids (genus Cichla) using multi-locus data". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 12 (96): 96. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-12-96. PMC 3563476. PMID 22727018.
  4. ^ a b Reiss, P.; K.W. Able; M.S. Nunes; T. Hrbek (2012). "Color pattern variation in Cichla temensis (Perciformes: Cichlidae): resolution based on morphological, molecular, and reproductive data". Neotrop. Ichthyol. 10 (1): 59–70. doi:10.1590/S1679-62252012000100006.
  5. ^ "What is a Peacock Bass?". Acute Angling. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
  6. ^ a b "Peacock Bass - Spectacular Cichlids for Big Aquaria". Tropical Fish Finder. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
  7. ^ Franco, Ana Clara Sampaio; Petry, Ana Cristina; Tavares, Marcela Rosa; Fátima Ramos Guimarães, Taís; Santos, Luciano Neves (28 October 2021). "Global distribution of the South American peacock basses Cichla spp. follows human interference". Fish and Fisheries. 23 (2): 407–421. doi:10.1111/faf.12624. ISSN 1467-2960. S2CID 240206544.
  8. ^ Ortega, J.C.G. (2015). "First record of Peacock bass Cichla kelberi Kullander & Ferreira, 2006 in the Brazilian Pantanal". BioInvasions Records. 4 (2): 133–138. doi:10.3391/bir.2015.4.2.10.
  9. ^ Luciano Seraphim Gasques; Sônia Maria Alves Pinto Prioli; Alberto José Prioli; Daniela Dib Gonçalves; Thomaz Manzini Carrenho Fabrin (2015). "Prospecting molecular markers to distinguish Cichla kelberi, C. monoculus and C. piquiti". Acta Scientiarum. 37 (4): 455–462. doi:10.4025/actascibiolsci.v37i4.25985.
  10. ^ Nico, L.; M. Neilson (2017). "Cichla ocellaris Bloch and Schneider, 1801". U.S. Geological Survey, Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
  11. ^ "Peacock Bass (introduced)". Ecology Asia. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
  12. ^ "Peacock bass found in Mackay's Pioneer River". The Courier-Mail. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  13. ^ "No peacock bass found in Pioneer River following sampling". Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Queensland Government. 1 February 2018. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
  14. ^ Pelicice, Fernando M.; Agostinho, Angelo A. (14 October 2008). "Fish fauna destruction after the introduction of a non-native predator (Cichla kelberi) in a Neotropical reservoir". Biological Invasions. 11 (8): 1789–1801. doi:10.1007/s10530-008-9358-3. S2CID 28019655.
  15. ^ Franco, Ana Clara Sampaio; García-Berthou, Emili; Santos, Luciano Neves dos (20 March 2021). "Ecological impacts of an invasive top predator fish across South America". Science of the Total Environment. 761: 143296. Bibcode:2021ScTEn.761n3296F. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143296. ISSN 0048-9697. PMID 33187704. S2CID 226948167.
  16. ^ Reis, P. (2015), Aspects of life history of Cichla temensis (Perciformes: Cichlidae) and its relationship to the Amazon basin's flood pulse, Rutgers University
  17. ^ "The 10 biggest cichlids". Practical Fishkeeping. 13 June 2016. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
  18. ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Species in genus Cichla". FishBase. October 2017 version.
  19. ^ "Cichla orinocensis". SeriouslyFish. Retrieved 17 October 2017.