''Crenicichla'' is a

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 ...

s native to

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 ...

commonly known as the pike cichlids. They are found in most

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

and

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones immediately to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Ge ...

freshwater habitats between the

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

and the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

Description

The smallest species of ''Crenicichla'' are no larger than Gottwald, J:
Crenicichla arten.
' and may be referred to as "

dwarf cichlid Dwarf cichlid is a term used by fishkeeping hobbyists to describe an arbitrary assemblage of small-sized fish from the family Cichlidae. Although the grouping is widely used in the aquarium industry and hobby, the grouping has no taxonomic or eco ...

s" for the

aquarium An aquarium (: aquariums or aquaria) is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. fishkeeping, Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aquati ...

hobby – though their aggressive and territorial habits make them unsuitable for novice keepers. The smallest members, and formerly the ''C. wallacii''

species complex In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

was split off to ''

Wallaciia ''Wallaciia'' is a South American genus of cichlids from the tribe Geophagini. The genus was only erected in mid-2023 by four South American ichthyologists and their Swedish colleague Sven O. Kullander. It was named in honour of the British natur ...

'' in 2023, along with the former ''C. saxatilis'' complex which became ''

Saxatilia ''Saxatilia'' is a South American cichlid genus in the genus group Geophagini. The genus was only erected in mid-2023 by four South American ichthyologists and their Swedish colleague Sven O. Kullander, and the name is a near-tautonym of the chos ...

'' and the ''C. lugubris'' complex which became ''

Lugubria ''Lugubria'' is a South American cichlid genus in the tribe Geophagini. It was introduced by four South American ichthyologists and their Swedish colleague Sven O. Kullander, S. O. Kullander, and the name is a near-tautonym of the chosen type spe ...

''. In the same paper, one further genus was erected (''

Hemeraia ''Hemeraia'' is a South American cichlid genus in the tribe Geophagini. The genus was only newly introduced in mid-2023 by four South American ichthyologists and their Swedish colleague S. O. Kullander. Previously, the species placed in ''Hemera ...

'') and the remaining species were divided into subgenera. The largest pike cichlids can grow to about long. Most ''Crenicichla'' measure in the range of . Like many other predatory fishes, a pike cichlid has a wide mouth and elongated body.

Distribution and ecology

The genus ''Crenicichla'' is native to

freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. The term excludes seawater and brackish water, but it does include non-salty mi ...

in tropical and

South America east of the Andes, ranging from

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 ...

and the

Guiana Shield The Guiana Shield (; ; ; ) is one of the three cratons of the South American Plate. It is a 1.7 billion-year-old Precambrian geological formation in northeast South America that forms a portion of the northern coast. The higher elevations on ...

(including

Orinoco The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers approximately 1 million km2, with 65% of it in Venezuela and 35% in Colombia. It is the List of rivers by discharge, f ...

), through 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

Río de la Plata Basin The Río de la Plata basin (, ), more often called the River Plate basin in scholarly writings, sometimes called the Platine basin or Platine region, is the Hydrography, hydrographical area in South America that drains to the Río de la Plata. I ...

s, south as far as Río Negro in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. Although widespread as a group, the individual species are often restricted to a single river or

river basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, th ...

. They are found in a wide range of habitats, including rivers, streams, pools and lakes; some species are

rheophilic A rheophile is an animal that prefers to live in fast-moving water. Examples of rheophilic animals Insects *Many aquatic insects living in riffles require current to survive. *'' Epeorus sylvicola'', a rheophilic mayfly species ( Ephemeroptera ...

. The vast majority of pike cichlids are

predatory Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill ...

and feed on fish, insects, and other small animals. They usually place themselves where they can stay undetected by the prey, like close to a sunken tree stem or behind a rock. This behavior, as well as the correspondingly

adapted In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the p ...

shape, which resembles that the unrelated

pike Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to: Fish * Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus'' * Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes * ''Esox'', genus of ...

s (Esocidae) of the

Holarctic The Holarctic realm is a biogeographic realm that comprises the majority of habitats found throughout the continents in the Northern Hemisphere. It corresponds to the floristic Boreal Kingdom. It includes both the Nearctic zoogeographical reg ...

, gives the pike cichlids their common name. An exception is ''C. tapii'', which is similar in general appearance to other pike cichlids, but unusual for being gregarious and feeding on

periphyton Periphyton is a complex mixture of algae, cyanobacteria, heterotrophic microbes, and detritus that is attached to submerged surfaces in most aquatic ecosystems. The related term Aufwuchs ( German "surface growth" or "overgrowth", ) refers to the ...

Species

There are currently 45 recognized species in this genus: *Subgenus ''Batrachops'' ** ''

Crenicichla cametana ''Crenicichla cametana'' is a species of 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, maki ...

Steindachner Franz Steindachner (11 November 1834 in Vienna – 10 December 1919 in Vienna) was an Austrian zoologist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist. He published over 200 papers on fishes and over 50 papers on reptiles and amphibians. Steindachner descri ...

, 1911 ** '' Crenicichla cyanonotus''

Cope A cope ( ("rain coat") or ("cape")) is a liturgical long mantle or cloak, open at the front and fastened at the breast with a band or clasp. It may be of any liturgical colour. A cope may be worn by any rank of the Catholic or Anglican clerg ...

, 1870 ** '' Crenicichla cyclostoma'' Ploeg, 1986 ** '' Crenicichla geayi'' Pellegrin, 1903 (half-banded pike cichlid) ** '' Crenicichla jegui'' Ploeg, 1986 ** '' Crenicichla reticulata'' ( Heckel, 1840) ** '' Crenicichla sedentaria'' S. O. Kullander, 1986 ** '' Crenicichla semifasciata'' ( Heckel, 1840) ** ''

Crenicichla stocki ''Crenicichla stocki'' is a species of 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 ...

'' Ploeg, 1991 *Subgenus ''Crenicichla'' ** '' Crenicichla macrophthalma'' Heckel, 1840 *Subgenus ''Lacustria'' ** '' Crenicichla celidochilus'' Casciotta, 1987 (black-lipped pike cichlid) ** '' Crenicichla empheres'' C. A. S. de Lucena, 2007 ** '' Crenicichla gaucho'' C. A. S. de Lucena & S. O. Kullander, 1992 ** '' Crenicichla gillmorlisi'' S. O. Kullander & C. A. S. de Lucena, 2013 ** '' Crenicichla hadrostigma'' C. A. S. de Lucena, 2007 ** '' Crenicichla haroldoi'' Luengo & Britski, 1974 ** '' Crenicichla hu'' Piálek, Říčan, Casciotta & Almirón, 2010 ** '' Crenicichla igara'' C. A. S. de Lucena & S. O. Kullander, 1992 ** '' Crenicichla iguapina'' S. O. Kullander & C. A. S. de Lucena, 2006 ** '' Crenicichla iguassuensis'' Haseman, 1911 ** '' Crenicichla jaguarensis'' Haseman, 1911 ** '' Crenicichla jupiaensis'' Britski & Luengo, 1968 ** '' Crenicichla jurubi'' C. A. S. de Lucena & S. O. Kullander, 1992 ** '' Crenicichla lacustris'' ( Castelnau, 1855) ** '' Crenicichla lucenai'' Mattos, I. Schindler, Ottoni & Cheffe, 2014 ** '' Crenicichla maculata'' S. O. Kullander & C. A. S. de Lucena, 2006 ** '' Crenicichla mandelburgeri'' S. O. Kullander, 2009 ** '' Crenicichla minuano'' C. A. S. de Lucena & S. O. Kullander, 1992 ** '' Crenicichla missioneira'' C. A. S. de Lucena & S. O. Kullander, 1992 ** '' Crenicichla mucuryna'' R. Ihering ( pt), 1914 ** '' Crenicichla niederleinii'' (

Holmberg Holmberg is a Swedish surname formed from the words ''holm(e)'' meaning islet and ''berg'' meaning mountain. It is a relatively common name, at least in Sweden, which has to do with the fact that many Swedish place names contain the suffixes ''-holm ...

, 1891) ''

nomen dubium In binomial nomenclature, a ''nomen dubium'' (Latin for "doubtful name", plural ''nomina dubia'') is a scientific name that is of unknown or doubtful application. Zoology In case of a ''nomen dubium,'' it may be impossible to determine whether a ...

'' ** '' Crenicichla prenda'' C. A. S. de Lucena & S. O. Kullander, 1992 ** '' Crenicichla punctata'' R. F. Hensel, 1870 ** ''

Crenicichla scottii ''Crenicichla scottii'' is a species of cichlid native to South America. It is found in the middle and lower parts of the Uruguay River drainage in Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil. This species reaches a length of . The fish is named in honor of v ...

'' ( C. H. Eigenmann, 1907) ** '' Crenicichla taikyra'' Casciotta, Almirón, Aichino, S. E. Gómez, Piálek, & Říčan, 2013 ** '' Crenicichla tapii'' Piálek, Dragová, Casciotta, Almirón & Říčan, 2015 ** '' Crenicichla tendybaguassu'' C. A. S. de Lucena & S. O. Kullander, 1992 ** '' Crenicichla tesay'' Casciotta & Almirón, 2009 ** '' Crenicichla tingui'' S. O. Kullander & C. A. S. de Lucena, 2006 ** '' Crenicichla tuca'' Piálek, Dragová, Casciotta, Almirón & Říčan, 2015 ** '' Crenicichla vittata'' Heckel, 1840 ** ''

Crenicichla yaha ''Crenicichla yaha'' is a species of 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 ...

'' Casciotta, Almirón & S. E. Gómez, 2006 ** '' Crenicichla ypo'' Casciotta, Almirón, Piálek, S. E. Gómez & Říčan, 2010 ** '' Crenicichla zebrina'' C. G. Montaña, López-Fernández & Taphorn, 2008 In addition to these, several

undescribed species In taxonomy, an undescribed taxon is a taxon (for example, a species) that has been discovered, but not yet formally described and named. The various Nomenclature Codes specify the requirements for a new taxon to be validly described and named. U ...

are known.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3482 Geophagini Cichlid fish of South America Cichlid genera Taxa named by Johann Jakob Heckel