The blue acara (''Andinoacara pulcher'') is a colorful

freshwater fish Freshwater fish are fish species that spend some or all of their lives in bodies of fresh water such as rivers, lakes, ponds and inland wetlands, where the salinity is less than 1.05%. These environments differ from marine habitats in many wa ...

in the

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 ...

family."Phylogeny of the Neotropical cichlid fish tribe Cichlasomatini (Teleostei: Cichlidae) based on morphological and molecular data, with the description of a new genus. Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research. Volume 47 Issue 3, Pages 234 - 247.

/ref> This fish can be found in various freshwater habitats, ranging from standing water to flowing streams, in

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

and

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

. They can reach lengths of . The scientific species name is indicative to its looks; ''pulcher'' meaning "beautiful" in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

. The blue acara is a common cichlid sold in many aquarium stores, and is sometimes confused with the larger green terror (''A. rivulatus''). The body of the blue acara is stocky and compact with a steel blue-gray coloration. Noticeable horizontal green lines occur on their faces and their blueish-green scales give them a sparkling appearance. They also have long, flowing fins with a hint of orange to the tips. Blue acaras natively live in a tropical climate and prefer water with a pH of 6.5-8.0, a water hardness of 3-6° dGH, and a water temperature of .

Description

A wild-morph acara in a home aquarium The blue acara normally grows to around , but can reach up to . The body is compact and stocky, while the fins are long and flowing, with a rounder head than on similar cichlids. The main body colour can vary from browns to blues to black due to local diversity. The body is decorated with five to eight vertical black stripes (which may not always be distinctly visible) and blue iridescent spots, and the face sports a few horizontal green lines. The fins have a hint of orange on the tips and some specimens have a red topfin rim. A distinctive black line is present going from the eye down the cheek; this one line is not found on other similar cichlids.

Taxonomy

Formerly placed in the genus '' Aequidens'', this species was moved to ''

Andinoacara ''Andinoacara'' is a genus of fish in the family Cichlidae. The genus was described in 2009.Musilova, Rican and Novak, 2009''Phylogeny of the Neotropical cichlid fish tribe Cichlasomatini (Teleostei: Cichlidae) based on morphological and molecula ...

'' in 2009.N., S.O. Kullander and R.E. Barriga Salazar, 2012. Andinoacara blombergi, a new species from the Río Esmeraldas basin in Ecuador and a review of A. rivulatus (Teleostei: Cichlidae). Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwat. 23(2):117-137.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3583 Blue acara Freshwater fish of Colombia Fish of Trinidad and Tobago Freshwater fish of Venezuela Fish described in 1858 Taxa named by Theodore Gill