Symphysodon discus
No common name
Collection Details
Event 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)
Symphysodon
Symphysodon discus
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
South America: Amazon River basin in Brazil, near the mouth of the Negro River, in the lower Abacaxis River, and in the lower Trombetas River.
Habitat Associations
Freshwater. benthopelagic.
Biology
Feeds on worms, crustaceans, insects and plant matter. Maximum length 20 cm TL (Ref. 7020).
Max length: 12.3 cm SL.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; guarders (clutch tenders). Deposit several hundred eggs on stones or plants; both parents defend eggs and larvae; larvae feed on a skin mucus during their first few days.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2018-11-07. Resilience: High (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: commercial; aquarium: commercial.
References
Mills, D. and G. Vevers (1989) The Tetra encyclopedia of freshwater tropical aquarium fishes. Tetra Press, New Jersey. 208 p.
Balon, E.K. (1990) Epigenesis of an epigeneticist: the development of some alternative concepts on the early ontogeny and evolution of fishes. Guelph Ichthyol. Rev. 1:1-48.
Kullander, S.O. (1996) Eine weitere Übersicht der Diskusfische, Gattung Symphysodon Heckel. D. Aqu. U. Terr. Z., Sonderheft "Diskus".
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.
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