''Lugubria'' is a South American cichlid genus in the tribe

Geophagini Geophagini is a Tribe (biology), tribe of cichlids from the subfamily Cichlinae, the American cichlids. It is the sister taxon to the clade which includes the Cichlasomatini and Heroini. Fishes in the Geophagini are distributed from Panama south ...

. It was introduced by four South American ichthyologists and their Swedish colleague S. O. Kullander, and the name is a near-

tautonym A tautonym is a scientific name of a species in which both parts of the name have the same spelling, such as '' Rattus rattus''. The first part of the name is the name of the genus and the second part is referred to as the ''specific epithet'' i ...

of the chosen type species. Previously, the species placed in ''Lugubria'' belonged to the genus ''

Crenicichla ''Crenicichla'' is a genus of cichlids native to South America commonly known as the pike cichlids. They are found in most tropical and subtropical freshwater habitats between the Andes and the Atlantic. Description The smallest species of ''C ...

'' and formed the ''Crenicichla lugubris''

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 ...

. The genus occurs throughout the

Amazon Basin The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributary, tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries ...

, in the

catchment 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 ...

of the

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 ...

and in the coastal rivers of the three

Guyanas The Guianas, also spelled Guyanas or Guayanas, are a geographical region in north-eastern South America. Strictly, the term refers to the three Guianas: Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana, formerly British, Dutch, and French Guiana respectiv ...

Characteristics

Like all pike cichlids, the ''Lugubria'' species have a pike-like, elongated body. They are relatively large pike cichlids and reach 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 . Their scales are relatively small, which means that a row of scales on the sides of the body consists of a very large number of scales. The number of soft rays in the dorsal and anal fins is also high (13 to 18 and 9 to 13 respectively). The number of vertebrae is high (39 to 44) and there are more trunk vertebrae than caudal vertebrae, whereas the opposite is true in most other cichlid genera. The genus ''Lugubria'' differs from ''

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 ...

'' in that it lacks a dark spot above the base of the pectoral fin; however, most ''Lugubria'' species show this spot in front of the base of the pectoral fin when they are older. In contrast to ''

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 ''

Teleocichla ''Teleocichla'' is a genus of fish in the family Cichlidae found in the Tapajós, Xingu, Tocantins and Jari River basins, which are part of the Amazon River Basin in Brazil. All species are rheophilic, and highly elongated in shape. They general ...

'', in ''Lugubria'' the infraorbitals 4 and 5 (bones below the eye socket) are not fused together. In ''Lugubria'' the rear edge of the supracleithrum, a bone in the shoulder girdle, is not serrated, in ''

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 ...

'' it is serrated. ''Lugubria'' differs from ''

'' (subgenus ''Batrachops'') by the lack of a net-like color pattern on the sides of the body. All scales covering the head of ''Lugubria'' are

cycloid scales A fish scale is a small rigid plate that grows out of the skin of a fish. The skin of most jawed fishes is covered with these protective scales, which can also provide effective camouflage through the use of reflection and colouration, as we ...

Species

The following species belong to the genus ''Lugubria'': Crenicichla lenticulata

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q119854848 Geophagini Cichlid fish of South America Cichlid genera Taxa named by Sven O. Kullander Fish described in 2023