Cichlid Profiles - Usumacinta Cichlid

[robertprice]

This large Convict type cichlid was put in Cichlasoma in 2005. It comes from the Atlantic slope of the Usumacinta River Basin in southern Mexico and Guatemala, and maybe elsewhere, as its classification as to genus is messed up. Kullander put in Vieja in 2003, and it was in Theraps before that. It is a 10 inch fish with a pale rose or lavender ground color and irregular convict-like bars that often break up into blotches. It has a small green iridescent bar under the eye. It is a little deeper in the body than a Convict, and rounder. By its geographic location, we know that it lives in water about 80 degrees, and is a bottom dweller. Because its taxonomy is so unsettled, no one says much more about it, except that they breed in captivity and eat almost any cichlid food. They are peaceful community fish with other large cichlids, but two males will fight.

Pictures in "Images" are unreliable. The best photos can be found at Cichlasoma ufermanni at Cichlidae.com.