''Rocio'' is a small

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 ...

freshwater fishes from 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 ...

and northern

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

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

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

to southern Mexico * ''

Rocio spinosissima ''Rocio'' is a small genus of cichlid 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 – ...

'' ( Vaillant & Pellegrin, 1902) –

Lake Izabal Lake Izabal (), also known as the Golfo Dulce, is the largest lake in Guatemala with a surface area of and a maximum depth of . The Polochic River is the largest river that drains into the lake. The lake, which is only a metre above sea level, ...

basin,

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 ...

These have historically been placed in the genera ''

Cichlasoma ''Cichlasoma'' is a genus of freshwater fish in the cichlid family. The genus was previously very large (a wastebasket taxon), including cichlids from North America, including Central America, and South America. Reclassification and subsequent ...

'' 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 precisely 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 a ...

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