Rocio octofasciata
No common name
NS
G5
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
There are no photos available for this taxon yet.
Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Cichlidae (Cichlids)
Rocio
Rocio octofasciata
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. This species has spots on sides smaller than scales, aligned in about 15 regular series (vs. not clearly aligned); abdomen predominantly whitish or greyish in life (similar to R. gemmata, vs. reddish in R. ocotal; ventral angle of articular is acute (vs. right); the first neural spine oriented rostrad (vs. caudad); circumpeduncular scales as few as 17 (vs. always more than 19); distance from the caudal esophageal loop in gut to esophagus always greater than 24% gut length (vs. less than 16%) (Ref. 74403).
There are no unique autapomorphies.
Distribution
North and Central America: Atlantic slope from southern Mexico (Papaloapán River) to Honduras (Ulua River).
Habitat Associations
Freshwater. benthopelagic. Found in: streams, mangroves.
Biology
Occurs in swampy areas with warm, murky water. Found in weedy, mud-bottomed and sand-bottomed canals and drainage ditches (Ref. 5723). Prefers coastal plains and slow moving waters of the lower river valleys (Ref. 7335). Feeds on worms, crustaceans, insects and fish (Ref. 7020).
Max length: 25.0 cm TL; common length: 7.5 cm TL.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; guarders (clutch tenders). Lays eggs on substrate. Parents incubate eggs and guard young.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2018-08-24. Resilience: High (Assuming tm<1 and multiple annual spawning; Fec=500-800).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: of no interest; aquarium: highly commercial.
References
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.
Lee, D.S., C.R. Gilbert, C.H. Hocutt, R.E. Jenkins, D.E. McAllister and J.R. Stauffer (1980) Atlas of North American freshwater fishes. North Carolina State Museum of Natural History. 867 p.
Conkel, D. (1993) Cichlids of North and Central America. T.F.H. Publications, Inc., USA.
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.
Schmitter-Soto, J.J. (2007) A systematic revision of the genus Archocentrus (Perciformes: Cichlidae), with the description of two new genera and six new species. Zootaxa 1603:1-78.
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