''Thorichthys'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

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 th ...

fish that is native to the Atlantic slope of Middle America, ranging from southern

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

and the

Yucatán Peninsula The Yucatán Peninsula (, also , ; es, Península de Yucatán ) is a large peninsula in southeastern Mexico and adjacent portions of Belize and Guatemala. The peninsula extends towards the northeast, separating the Gulf of Mexico to the north ...

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

, to Guatemala and Honduras, with introduced populations in a few other countries. They tend to inhabit moderately-flowing to standing water such as rivers, streams, lakes, ditches and lagoons, and they are primarily freshwater fish, although ''T. helleri'' and ''T. meeki'' may occur in slightly

brackish Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...

habitats. ''Thorichthys'' have somewhat pointy heads and stripes down their body, and mostly feed on

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

s and

detritus In biology, detritus () is dead particulate organic material, as distinguished from dissolved organic material. Detritus typically includes the bodies or fragments of bodies of dead organisms, and fecal material. Detritus typically hosts commu ...

. Members of ''Thorichthys'' do not exceed in

standard length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology. Overall length * Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish ...

, and they are popular

aquarium fish Lists of aquarium life include lists of fish, amphibians, invertebrates and plants in freshwater, brackish and marine aquariums. In fishkeeping, suitable species of aquarium fish, plants and other organisms vary with the size, water chemistry a ...

, especially the well-known firemouth cichlid (''T. meeki'').

Genetic Genetic may refer to: *Genetics, in biology, the science of genes, heredity, and the variation of organisms **Genetic, used as an adjective, refers to genes ***Genetic disorder, any disorder caused by a genetic mutation, whether inherited or de nov ...

evidence shows that ''Thorichthys'' is most closely related to

Salvin's cichlid The Salvin's cichlid (''Trichromis salvini''), also known as the yellow-belly cichlid or tricolored cichlid, is a species of the family Cichlidae. It is found in rivers of the Atlantic slope of southern Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala. Taxonomy ...

, the only species of the genus ''Trichromis'', which is morphologically and behaviorally rather different. In contrast, ''Thorichthys'' is not particularly close to ''

Cribroheros ''Cribroheros'' is a genus of cichlid found in Middle America. These freshwater fish are distributed over most of Middle America, from western Panama to southern Mexico, on both Atlantic and Pacific slopes. Depending on species, their habitat r ...

'' despite having several features that are similar.

Species

There are currently 9 recognized species in this genus: * '' Thorichthys affinis'' ( Günther, 1862) (Yellow meeki) * '' Thorichthys aureus'' ( Günther, 1862) (Blue flash) * '' Thorichthys callolepis'' (

Regan The family name Regan, along with its cognates O'Regan, O Regan, Reagan, and O'Reagan, is an Anglicized form of the Irish surname Ó Riagáin or Ó Ríogáin, from Ua Riagáin. The meaning is likely to have originated in ancient Gaelic ''ri' ...

, 1904) (San Domingo cichlid) * '' Thorichthys helleri'' (

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 describ ...

, 1864) (Yellow cichlid) * '' Thorichthys maculipinnis'' (

, 1864) * '' Thorichthys meeki''

Brind Brind is a hamlet in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, forming part of the civil parish of Wressle. It is situated approximately to the north of the market town of Howden and lies west of the B1228 road. The single track tarmac roa ...

, 1918 (Firemouth cichlid) * '' Thorichthys panchovillai'' Moral-Flores, López-Segovia & Hernández-Arellano, 2017 * '' Thorichthys pasionis'' ( Rivas, 1962) (Blackgullet cichlid) * ''

Thorichthys socolofi ''Thorichthys'' is a genus of cichlid fish that is native to the Atlantic slope of Middle America, ranging from southern Veracruz and the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico, to Guatemala and Honduras, with introduced populations in a few other count ...

'' (

R. R. Miller Robert Rush Miller (April 23, 1916 – February 10, 2003) "was an important figure in American ichthyology and conservation from 1940 to the 1990s." He was born in Colorado Springs, earned his bachelor's degree at University of California, Berke ...

& J. N. Taylor, 1984) (Chiapas cichlid)

References

Heroini Fish of Central America Cichlid genera Taxa named by Seth Eugene Meek {{Cichlidae-stub