''Rocio'' is a small genus of

cichlid Cichlids are fish from the family Cichlidae in the order Cichliformes. Cichlids were traditionally classed in a suborder, the Labroidei, along with the wrasses ( Labridae), in the order Perciformes, but molecular studies have contradicted this ...

freshwater fishes from southern Mexico and northern Central America.

Species

There are currently four recognized species in this genus: * '' Rocio gemmata'' Contreras-Balderas & Schmitter-Soto, 2007 – from the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico * '' Rocio ocotal'' Schmitter-Soto, 2007 – from

Lake Ocotal A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...

, Mexico * '' Rocio octofasciata'' ( Regan, 1903) (Jack Dempsey) – from

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

to southern Mexico * '' Rocio spinosissima'' ( Vaillant & Pellegrin, 1902) – Lake Izabal basin,

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

These have historically been placed in the genera '' Cichlasoma'' or '' Heros'', but they are quite distinct. ''R. gemmata'' and ''R. ocotal'' were typically regarded as populations of the closely related ''R. octofasciata'' until 2007; a review in 2018 recommended that ''R. gemmata'' should be considered a

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

of ''R. octofasciata'', whereas a review in 2021 argued that they should be recognized as separate.

Etymology

The genus name is derived from name of J. J. Schmitter-Soto's wife. Meaning dew of the morning in Spanish, this ties in with the colorful spotting that is found in members of this genus.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1941961 Fish of Central America Cichlid genera Heroini