News
SpeciesScientists Discover Mysterious New Fish in the Red Sea – and Have Never Seen It AgainOceanEye to eye with Britain's hidden sharks at SharkAdemy - OceanographicRiversIn October, biologists surveying a New York harbor for invasive fish pulled up a bright yellow one. It wasn't an invasive species at allOceanShedd Aquarium Sends Shark Eggs to Bolster Wild PopulationsSpeciesA rare fish has been found in Lake Ontario, North America, whose entire body is golden. It is a nati..OceanThe Great Sea Reef Is Fiji’s Wildest Dive, and a New Frontier for ConservationOceanEckerd College professor contributes to designating Biscayne Bay an Important Shark and Ray AreaSpeciesRio Verde Grande Survey Identifies Fifty-Three Fish Species Facing Flow ReductionsFisheriesAdams River Salmon Run in Thompson-NicolaIndiaHilsa production dropped 26% in five years, fisheries minister tells parliamentSpeciesScientists Discover Mysterious New Fish in the Red Sea – and Have Never Seen It AgainOceanEye to eye with Britain's hidden sharks at SharkAdemy - OceanographicRiversIn October, biologists surveying a New York harbor for invasive fish pulled up a bright yellow one. It wasn't an invasive species at allOceanShedd Aquarium Sends Shark Eggs to Bolster Wild PopulationsSpeciesA rare fish has been found in Lake Ontario, North America, whose entire body is golden. It is a nati..OceanThe Great Sea Reef Is Fiji’s Wildest Dive, and a New Frontier for ConservationOceanEckerd College professor contributes to designating Biscayne Bay an Important Shark and Ray AreaSpeciesRio Verde Grande Survey Identifies Fifty-Three Fish Species Facing Flow ReductionsFisheriesAdams River Salmon Run in Thompson-NicolaIndiaHilsa production dropped 26% in five years, fisheries minister tells parliament
EveryFish

Cichlids

Tilapia, the pearlspot (karimeen), angelfish, discus and the cichlids of the African lakes. 55 fish on EveryFish so far.

Cichlids are a family of perch-like fish of fresh and brackish water in Africa, the Americas and South Asia. With more than 1,700 described species and many more awaiting names, they are one of the largest families of vertebrates. They have a second set of jaws in the throat that lets them handle many foods, and nearly all of them care for their eggs and young, many by carrying them in their mouths.

Evolution's showcase

In the great lakes of East Africa, Malawi, Tanganyika and Victoria, cichlids have split into hundreds of species each, with jaws and teeth shaped for scraping algae, crushing snails, eating fish, plucking scales from other fish or sifting sand. Lake Victoria's cichlids evolved in roughly 15,000 years, a blink in evolutionary time. Many were lost after the Nile perch was introduced, a famous case of the harm an introduced predator can do.

Tilapia and karimeen

Tilapias, especially the Nile tilapia, are among the most farmed fish in the world, raised in more than a hundred countries because they grow fast and tolerate poor water. India has its own cichlids: the green chromide or pearlspot, karimeen, of Kerala's backwaters, Kerala's state fish, and the small orange chromide. The angelfish, discus and oscar of South America and the mbuna of Lake Malawi are favourites of aquarists.

Famous cichlid fish

Nile tilapiaFarmed in more than a hundred countriesDiscusA disc-shaped Amazon cichlidOscarA large South American aquarium cichlidZebra mbunaA rock-dwelling cichlid of Lake MalawiElectric yellow cichlidThe electric yellow cichlidFrontosa cichlidA banded cichlid of Lake Tanganyika

Still to be written: Green chromide, Pterophyllum scalare.

Further reading

WaterRivers and lakesEstuaries and mangrovesCoasts and shelvesCoral reefsOpen oceanDeep seaPolar and cold seasCaves and springsBetween sea and river
UseFood fishFarmedAquarium fishSport fishingCulture and faithVenomous or dangerousInvasiveScience and research
OrderBest knownA to ZOldest firstNewest firstBy size
🇬🇹 Guatemala and 4 moreConvict cichlid Striped Central American cichlid popular in home aquariumsCichlid · Rivers and lakes · 1867 Sub-Saharan AfricaPrincess cichlid A cooperative schooling cichlid from Lake Tanganyika.Cichlid · Rivers and lakes WorldHaplochromis A large ray-finned fish genus from East Africa known for rapid evolution and aquarium popularity.Cichlid · Rivers and lakes · 1888 🇧🇮 Burundi and 3 moreBurton's mouthbrooder East African cichlid with reversible social roles and acoustic courtship.Cichlid · Rivers and lakes Sub-Saharan AfricaZebra mbuna Small rock-dwelling cichlid from Lake MalawiCichlid · Rivers and lakes 🇧🇷 BrazilPterophyllum A genus of laterally compressed freshwater cichlids known as angelfish.Cichlid · Rivers and lakes · 1824 🇵🇪 Peru and 1 moreGreen terror A large, aggressive South American cichlid kept in aquariums.Cichlid · Rivers and lakes 🇻🇪 Venezuela and 1 moreRam cichlid Small colourful freshwater fish from South AmericaCichlid · Rivers and lakes · 1948

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

The weekly digest

Every Monday: the fish of the day, new pages on EveryFish, and the conferences and anniversaries of the week ahead.