''Kihnichthys ufermanni'', the Usumacinta cichlid, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

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 ...

found in a few rivers in the Usumacinta River basin in

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

and southern

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. It typically occurs in rivers that are about wide, fairly deep, have few or no aquatic plants, and a variable water current. This species is the only known member of its

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 ...

, but several of its features, including the chisel-like teeth, are shared with ''

Cincelichthys ''Cincelichthys'' is a genus of high-bodied cichlids found in southern Mexico to Guatemala, where they inhabit lakes, rivers (typically sluggish) and other freshwater habitats. They are large cichlids, up to long depending on species, with femal ...

'' and whether they should be merged into a single genus is not yet fully resolved; a review in 2020 recommended that the Usumacinta cichlid should be moved into ''Cincelichthys''. The Usumacinta cichlid reaches a

standard length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of fish anatomy, their anatomies, for data used in many areas of ichthyology, including Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy and fishery biology. Overall length Standard length (SL) is ...

of . The generic name honours the

ichthyologist Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish (Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 35,800 species of fish had been described as of March 2 ...

Herman A. Kihn while the

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

honours the

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, and friend of Robert Allgayer's, Alfred Ufermann who died in 2000.

References

Heroini Monotypic Perciformes genera Fish described in 2002 Controversial fish taxa {{Cichlasomatinae-stub