Mayaheros urophthalmus
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)
Mayaheros
Mayaheros urophthalmus
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: short and / or deep.
Distribution
Central America: Atlantic drainages from Mexico to Nicaragua.
Habitat Associations
Freshwater, brackish. benthopelagic. Found in: estuaries, mangroves, seagrass beds.
Biology
Inhabit freshwater marshes and mangrove swamps. Adults prefer coastal lagoons and rivers and will tolerate marine conditions. Feed on small fishes and macro-invertebrates (Ref. 7335). Spawn on the bottom in both fresh and brackish water (Ref. 35127).
Max length: 39.4 cm TL; max weight: 1130 g.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; guarders (nesters); parental care: maternal. Max. 600 eggs.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2018-09-25. Resilience: Medium (K=0.16-0.20; tmax=7; Fec=2,085-6,615).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: commercial; gamefish; aquaculture: commercial; aquarium: commercial.
References
Baensch, H.A. and R. Riehl (1985) Aquarien atlas. Band 2. Mergus, Verlag für Natur-und Heimtierkunde GmbH, Melle, Germany. 1216 p.
Page, L.M. and B.M. Burr (1991) A field guide to freshwater fishes of North America north of Mexico. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. 432 p.
Conkel, D. (1993) Cichlids of North and Central America. T.F.H. Publications, Inc., USA.
Martinez-Palacios, C.A. and L.G. Ross (1988) The feeding ecology of the central American cichlid Cichlasoma urophthalmus (Günther). J. Fish Biol. 33(6):665-670.
Martinez-Palacios, C.A. and L.G. Ross (1992) The reproductive biology and growth of the Central American cichlid Cichlasoma urophthalmus (Günther). J. Appl. Ichthyol. 8(1-4):99-109.
IGFA (2001) Database of IGFA angling records until 2001. IGFA, Fort Lauderdale, USA.
Yáñes-Arancibia, A., A.L. Lara-Domínguez and J.W. Day Jr. (1993) Interactions between mangrove and seagrass habitats mediated by estuarine nekton assemblages: coupling of primary and secondary production. Hydrobiologia 264:1-12.
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