''Crenicara'' is a small

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

cichlid Cichlids () are a large, diverse, and widespread family of percomorph fish in the family Cichlidae, order Cichliformes. At least 1,760 species have been scientifically described, making it one of the largest vertebrate families, with on ...

fishes native to creeks and rivers in the

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

and Essequibo basins in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

. These cichlids have several dark spots on the sides of their bodies, and do not surpass in length. In the past, the members of the genus ''

Dicrossus ''Dicrossus'' is a genus of small cichlid fishes native to rivers in the Amazon and Orinoco basins in South America. These cichlids have several dark spots on the sides of their bodies (although very faint in some). Depending on the species, they ...

'' were sometimes included in ''Crenicara''. Members of both genera are sometimes known as checkerboard or chessboard cichlids.

Species

The two recognized species in this genus are: * '' Crenicara latruncularium'' S. O. Kullander & Staeck, 1990 * '' Crenicara punctulatum'' ( Günther, 1863) (checkerboard cichlid) ; Names brought to synonymy * ''Crenicara altispinosa'' Haseman, 1911, a synonym for ''

Mikrogeophagus altispinosus ''Mikrogeophagus altispinosus'' is a species of fish endemic to the southern Amazon River basin in Brazil and Bolivia. The species is part of the family Cichlidae and subfamily Geophaginae. It is a popular aquarium fish, traded under the common n ...

'' * ''Crenicara elegans'' Steindachner, 1875, a synonym for '' Crenicara punctulatum'', the Checkerboard cichlid * ''Crenicara filamentosa'' Ladiges, 1958, a synonym for '' Dicrossus filamentosus'', the Chessboard cichlid * ''Crenicara maculata'' (Steindachner, 1875) and ''Crenicara praetoriusi'' Weise, 1935, synonyms for '' Dicrossus maculatus''

References

Geophagini Fish of South America Cichlid genera Taxa named by Franz Steindachner {{Cichlinae-stub