This species is relatively rare in the aquarium trade.

It can be differentiated from all congeners by a combination of possessing ctenoid (vs. cycloid) scales on the sides of the head plus lacking a dark spot at the caudal-fin base.

The precise extent of this species’ range is unclear. The majority of records pertain to the lower rio Xingu basin in the state of Pará, northern Brazil, including middle and lower reaches of its major tributary the rio Iriri, although the type locality is in Mato Grosso state several hundred kilometres upstream.

There also exist a handful of records from the rio Jamanxim (a major affluent of the rio Tapajós which drain…

Recorded throughout much of the Amazon basin, with its range extending eastwards from the Ucayali system in Peru as far as the Tocantins drainage which flows into the Atlantic alongside the Amazon at its delta. The southern extremity of its range appears to be the Río Mamoré in Bolivia, a tributary of the rio Guaporé, and the northern limit the Essequibo basin, Guyana.

This species is relatively rare in the ornamental trade, where it is sometimes confused with its similarly-patterned congeners S. daemon and S. lilith. These three species all possess 1-3 dark blotches on the side of the body and a relatively large ocellus on the upper caudal-fin base, characters that immediately separate them from the remainder of the genus which lack blotches on the body and have a relatively small ocellus on the upper caudal-fin base.

S. leucosticta is frequently available in the ornamental trade and farmed for the purpose in several countries. It is often confused with its congener S. jurupari in aquarium literature and on websites, but is easily recognised by presence (vs. absence) of prominent white spots or vermiform markings on the sides of the head.

Although the presence of white spots on the head does not distinguish it from all known Satanoperca populations (see below), it can…

Etroplus is the only cichlid genus native to the Indian subcontinent and Sri Lanka and currently comprises three species among which E. canarensis is uniquely limited to freshwater and restricted in range.

Its congeners E. maculatus and E. suratensis are both euryhaline inhabiting estuaries, coastal lagoons and the lower reaches of rivers around coastlines of western and southern India plus northern Sri Lanka.

There are at least two variants available one of which is often traded as G.sp. ‘Araguaia orange head’. This is misleading since both are endemic to the Tapajós drainage (see ‘Distribution’), and appears to date back to an error in collection locality when the fish were first exported.

The two differ in the extent of orange colouration on the head which extends onto the opercle in G. sp. ‘orange head (rio Arapiuns form) but is mostly restricted to the area above the ey…

This species is rare in the hobby though it’s name is often attached to shipments of other Geophagus species. 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: possession of dark preopercular marking; no vertical bars on the flanks; relatively large, roughly oblong-shaped dark midlateral marking; caudal fin brownish with 3-5 light stripes on upper lobe and less well-defined stripes or mottled pattern of light spots with narrow dark interspaces on lower lobe.

Known only from the rio Pindaré in Maranhão state, north-eastern Brazil which drains into the Baía de São Marcos (St. Mark’s Bay) along with the rios Mearim, of which it is sometimes considered a tributary, and Grajaú. Some sections of the Pindaré have been heavily degraded via removal of riparian vegetation for agriculture and habitats destroyed due to resultant siltation.

The river is poorly-studied and the conservation status of its fishes mostly unconfirmed so su…