Although only described in 2006 this species has been known in the hobby since at least 1988 when it was imported to Germany and traded as G. sp. 'Parnaíba'. An undescribed species from the rio Pindaré in Maranhão state usually sold as G. sp. 'Pindaré' is sometimes labelled G. sp. 'Pindaré' (Parnaíba) which has resulted in some confusion but the two do not occur sympatrically and are totally distinct from one another.

This species is generally rare in the aquarium hobby though oddly appears to be one of the commoner species in Australia where it’s often referred to by the vernacular name ‘black-throated eartheater’. It’s a member of the nominal G. surinamensis ‘group’ of closely-related species within the genus and can be identified by a combination of characters including: presence of dark preopercular markings; no vertical bars on the flanks even when stressed/preserved; base of filaments on the first gill arch mostly covered by a flap of skin; exposed part of bra…

This species is also known as the 'pearlscale' or 'mother-of-pearl' cichlid in deference to the iridescent body scaling. It's also worth noting that fishes sold as Gymnogeophagus australis in Europe are ‘G.‘ brasiliens is more often than not.

Wild specimens exhibits significant dissimilarities in body colour and patterning depending on locality with basic colouration being dominated by varying shades of blue, green or yellow, for example. Some populations al…

This species is relatively rare in the hobby but sometimes available from specialist retailers or private breeders. Though described in 1992 it was first collected much earlier and has been in the hobby since the late 1970s, being known as ‘Wangenstrich-Erdfresser’ (cheek-stripe eartheater) in Germany.

It’s one of just five Geophagus species not to be included in the nominal G. surinamensis ‘group’ of closely-related species within the genus along with G. argyrostictus, G. gottwaldi, G. grammepareius and G. harreri.

In a study conducted on the Arataye River, the main tributary of the Approuage, this species was mostly collected from stretches of rapids with rocky substrate which were reduced to a series of pools during the dry season. Other fishes observed at the same site were Auchenipterus nuchalis, Hypostomus gymnorhynchus and Moenkhausia cf. intermedia while at other localities in the river Bryconops affinis, Myleus ternetzi, M. rhomboidalis, Moenkhausia aff. barbouri, Curimata sp. and Serrasalmus sp. were collected.

This species is relatively rare in the hobby but sometimes available from specialist retailers or private breeders. Though described in 1991 it was first collected much earlier and misidentified by Gosse (1976) as G. surinamensis.

It’s one of just five Geophagus species not to be included in the nominal G. surinamensis ‘group’ of closely-related species within the genus along with G. gottwaldi, G. grammepareius, G. harreri an…

This species is very rarely-traded since collections of fishes for commercial purposes aren’t common in Suriname. It’s a member of the nominal G. surinamensis ‘group’ of closely-related species within the genus and can be identified by a combination of characters including: no dark preopercular marking; six vertical/parallel bars on each flank (normally visible only when the fish are stressed, spawning or preserved); dark, squarish lateral spot positioned within the third vertical bar; sixth (posterior) bar elongate an…

It’s a member of the nominal G. surinamensis ‘group’ of closely-related species within the genus and can be identified by a combination of characters including: presence of dark preopercular markings; seven parallel vertical bars on each flank (normally visible only when the fish are stressed, spawning or preserved); vertical bars four and five meet in such a way that they form a ‘Y’ shape; dark lateral spot positioned within the third vertical bar; caudal fin reddish with variable pattern of iridescent blue spots and stripes.

It also occurs in the río Caura on the Guyana Shield plus the Ventauri and Mavaca drainages in the middle and upper Orinoco where it’s also known from some white water, referring to turbidity rather than turbulence, habitats. To the north its distribution appears limited by the Las Majaguas dam on the Río Cojedes, a tributary of the Apure where a probable introduced population inhabits the res…

This species was available in the hobby several years prior to being described, invariably traded as G. sp. aff. altifrons ‘Tocantins’, G. sp. ‘Tocantins’ or G. sp. ‘rio Areoes’. The latter of these names refers to an Indian reserve named ‘Areões’ in the rio Das Mortes drainage, a tributary of the Araguaia which itself drains into the Tocantins, and the aquarium specimens in our images have been identified as G. neambi by Dr. Paulo Lucinda, co-describer of the species.