Cichla orinocensis
No common name
Collection Details
Event Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Cichlidae (Cichlids)
Cichla
Cichla orinocensis
Description
This species account was compiled from
FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2025. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version 04/2025.)
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Characters
Body shape: fusiform / normal. Diagnosis: Differs from its congeners by typical presence of three large dark ocellated blotches along side, but occasionally blotches 2 and 3 irregularly developed or not ocellated. Lateral band abbreviated in juveniles. Differs from other species of Cichla with abbreviated juvenile lateral band by absence (vs. presence) of well defined vertical bars in adults; from ocellaris also by lateral line nearly always discontinuous vs. nearly always continuous, by absence (vs. presence) of bars 1a and 2a and absence (vs. presence) of abdominal blotches; from kelberi, monoculus, and pleiozona also by absence (vs. presence) of abdominal blotches and occipital bar, and presence (vs. absence) of postorbital markings; from nigromaculata also by absence (vs. presence) of bars 1a and 2a, and absence (vs. presence) of small black blotches on dorsum (Ref. 57716).
Distribution
South America: Orinoco River basin, in tributaries of the Orinoco River in Colombia and Venezuela; Amazon River basin, in the Negro River basin, Brazil.
Habitat Associations
Freshwater. benthopelagic. Found in: streams.
Biology
Inhabits rivers (Ref. 12251). Is usually captured in shallow near-shore areas of lagoons and slow moving reaches of the river channel. Feeds mainly on small characiform fish (Ref. 26329, 27531).
Max length: 61.7 cm SL; max weight: 6220 g.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2020-11-05. Resilience: High (K=0.08).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
gamefish.
References
Axelrod, H.R. (1993) The most complete colored lexicon of cichlids. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, New Jersey. 864 p.
Jepsen, D.B., K.O. Winemiller and D.C. Taphorn (1997) Temporal patterns of resource partitioning among Cichla species in a Venezuelan blackwater river. J. Fish Biol. 51(6):1085-1108.
Kullander, S.O. (2003) Cichlidae (Cichlids). p. 605-654. In R.E. Reis, S.O. Kullander and C.J. Ferraris, Jr. (eds.) Checklist of the Freshwater Fishes of South and Central America. Porto Alegre: EDIPUCRS, Brasil.
Kullander, S.O. and E.J.G. Ferreira (2006) A review of the South American cichlid genus Cichla, with descriptions of nine new species. Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwat. 17(4):289-398.
Comments On Cichla orinocensis