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Library > Cichlids > General Articles > Taxonomy of Cichlids > Sub Family Cichlasomatinae > Genus Aequidens
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Genus Aequidens  
       
Scientific classification
     
Kingdom : Animalia
Phylum : Chordata
Class : Actinopterygii
Order : Perciformes
Suborder : Labroidei
Family : Cichlidae
Sub Family : Cichlasomatinae
Genus : Aequidens
Subfamilies

 

 

 

 

 

 

Introduction

Aequidens is a South American genus of fish in the family Cichlidae.

Taxonomy

The Genus "Aequidens" is derived from Latin words, equips+equal+dens(teeth), which roughly translates to "Fish with equal teeth"

Aequidens was long a catch-all group for South American cichlids with three anal fin spines and lacking any other conspicuous characters.

Many species formerly placed in this genus have been reallocated to other genera such as Andinoacara, Bujurquina, Laetacara, Tahuantinsuyoa, Krobia and Cleithracara.

As presently defined, Aequidens is largely restricted to the Amazon Basin, Orinoco Basin and river basins in The Guianas.

The only exceptions are A. plagiozonatus which also occurs in the Paraná Basin, and A. tetramerus which also occurs in the Parnaíba River.

Description

Aequidens is recognized for a group of Cichlasoma like cichlids, they differ from Cichlasoma in having naked dorsal and anal fins and long caudal peduncle(tail) including 2-3 vertebrae instead of none.

The genus was reviewed by Kullander (1983) who distinguished a number of species groups.

Most of these species groups have since been recognized as separate genera: Bujurquina, Tahuantinsuyoa and Laetacara in Kullander (1986), and Krobia and Cleithracara in Kullander & Nijssen (1989).

A. tetramerus, is the most widely found species of this genus and attains 160 mm SL,it is recorded from most of the Amazon, Tocantins, and Orinoco basins, and Guianan rivers.

 

  

SPECIES:

Currently there are, 17 recognized species placed in this genus.

Many species from this genus were placed in a new genus Adinocara like A. biseriatus, A. coeruleopunctatus, A. latifrons, A. pulcher and A. rivulatus

These species are:
(The names in bracket describe the first times these species were identified)

 

  
         
SPECIES SNAPSHOT
 
     
Scientific Name :
Aequidens chimantanus
    
Common Name :
Chusco
Origin :
Caroní River basin in Orinoco River drainage, Venezuela,South America,AMERICA
Habitat :
benthopleagic
Diet :
Carnivore
Breeding: Substrate Spawner
Standard Length: 4.5"
Total Length: 6"
   
   
   
     
     
Scientific Name :
Aequidens diadema
    
Common Name :
Royal acara
Origin :
South America: Amazon River basin, in the upper Negro River; Orinoco River basin,,South America,AMERICA
Habitat :
benthopleagic
Diet :
Omnivore
Breeding: Substrate Spawner
Standard Length: 4.8"
Total Length: 6"
   
   
   
     
     
Scientific Name :
Aequidens epae
    
Common Name :
Aequidens epae
Origin :
Brazil, South America,Jacareacanga and São Luis on the lower Rio Tapajós,South America,AMERICA
Habitat :
benthopleagic
Diet :
Omnivore
Breeding: Substrate Spawner
Standard Length: 4.5"
Total Length: 6"
   
   
   
     
     
Scientific Name :
Aequidens gerciliae
    
Common Name :
Aequidens gerciliae
Origin :
South America: Amazon River basin, known only from the upper Aripuanã River,South America,AMERICA
Habitat :
benthopleagic
Diet :
Omnivore
Breeding: Substrate Spawner
Standard Length: 5.2"
Total Length: 5.6"
   
   
   
     
     
Scientific Name :
Aequidens hoehnei
    
Common Name :
Hoehne Nannacara
Origin :
Amazon River basin, in the Araguaia River drainage.,South America,AMERICA
Habitat :
benthopleagic
Diet :
Carnivorous
Breeding: Substrate Spawner
Standard Length: 3"
Total Length: 4"
   
   
   
     
     
Scientific Name :
Aequidens mauesanus
    
Common Name :
Aequidens mauesanus
Origin :
Amazon River basin, in the Maués and Arapiuns rivers, Brazil.,South America,AMERICA
Habitat :
benthopleagic
Diet :
Omnivores
Breeding: Substrate Spawner
Standard Length: 5.5"
Total Length: 6.8"
   
   
   
     
     
Scientific Name :
Aequidens metae
    
Common Name :
Yellow Acara
Origin :
Meta River in the Orinoco River basin, Colombia,South America,AMERICA
Habitat :
benthopleagic
Diet :
Carnivore
Breeding: Substrate Spawner
Standard Length: 4.8"
Total Length: 6"
   
   
   
     
     
Scientific Name :
Aequidens michaeli
    
Common Name :
Aequidens michaeli.
Origin :
Rio Amazonas basin, in the lower Rio Xingu at Altamira and Belo Monte, Brazil.,South America,AMERICA
Habitat :
benthopleagic
Diet :
Omnivorous
Breeding: Substrate Spawner
Standard Length: 5.0"
Total Length: 8"
   
   
   
     
     
Scientific Name :
Aequidens pallidus
    
Common Name :
Double Spot Acara
Origin :
Amazon River basin, in the middle and lower Negro River, Uatumã, Preto da Eva, and Puraquequara rivers.,South America,AMERICA
Habitat :
benthopleagic
Diet :
Carnivore
Breeding: Substrate Spawner
Standard Length: 6.0"
Total Length: 8"
   
   
   
     
     
Scientific Name :
Aequidens paloemeuensis
    
Common Name :
Talepuru
Origin :
Paloemeu River, Marowijne drainage in Suriname.,South America,AMERICA
Habitat :
benthopleagic
Diet :
Omnivorous
Breeding: Substrate Spawner
Standard Length: 4"
Total Length: 5.5"
   
   
   
     
     
Scientific Name :
Aequidens patricki
    
Common Name :
Patrick_s acara
Origin :
restricted to the Aguaytía and Pachitea rivers of the Amazon River basin, Peru.,South America,AMERICA
Habitat :
benthopleagic
Diet :
Carnivore
Breeding: Substrate Spawner
Standard Length: 4.5"
Total Length: 6"
   
   
   
     
     
Scientific Name :
Aequidens potaroensis
    
Common Name :
Aequidens potaroensis
Origin :
Essequibo River basin, Guyana,South America,AMERICA
Habitat :
benthopleagic
Diet :
Carnivore
Breeding: Substrate Spawner
Standard Length: 4"
Total Length: 5.5"
   
   
   
     
     
Scientific Name :
Aequidens rondoni
    
Common Name :
Acara cichlid.
Origin :
Amazon River basin, in the upper Tapajós River basin, Brazil,South America,AMERICA
Habitat :
benthopleagic
Diet :
Carnivore
Breeding: Substrate Spawner
Standard Length: 4"
Total Length: 5.5"
   
   
   
     
     
Scientific Name :
Aequidens tetramerus
    
Common Name :
Saddle Cichlid
Origin :
widely distributed in the Amazon River basin in Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil and Bolivia.,South America,AMERICA
Habitat :
benthopleagic
Diet :
omnivore
Breeding: Substrate Spawner
Standard Length: 6.5"
Total Length: 10"
   
   
   
     
     
Scientific Name :
Aequidens tubicen
    
Common Name :
Aequidens tubicen
Origin :
Amazon River basin, restricted to Trombetas River close to Cachoeira Porteira, Brazil.,South America,AMERICA
Habitat :
benthopleagic
Diet :
omnivore
Breeding: Substrate Spawner
Standard Length: 4.5"
Total Length: 5.5"
   
   
   
     
     
Scientific Name :
Aequidens viridis
    
Common Name :
Golden acara
Origin :
Guaporé River basin, Amazon River basin,South America,AMERICA
Habitat :
benthopleagic
Diet :
Carnivore
Breeding: Substrate Spawner
Standard Length: 6.5
Total Length: 7.2"
   
   
   
     

Author/Credits

 

   Sandeep Raghuvanshi
Picture Credits   Wikipdeia and other sources which have releases under GNU, unless specifically credited
CITATIONS/FURTHER READING   Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2011.FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, ( 10/2013 )