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Sometimes these fish appear in books and other websites under more than one name, and that is why we show more than one name in the table. A living organism
can really only have one scientific name at one time, but the
correct names can change as scientists learn more about the fish
or the history of its scientific name.
In the table above the upper scientific name is the older name, and the lower scientific name is the more recent revision. You can see that the genus Cichlasoma is
apparently being split into Archocentrus, Heros, Thoricthys,
Nandopsis, and other names that are not listed in this table.
The maximum sizes are not really the maximum. I have occasionally seen specimens of each of these fish that are bigger than the sizes listed as the maximum in the
above table. But fish of the sizes listed would be considered very big for that species.
Fish like these Neotropical Cichlids continue to grow their entire lives. Mammals like dogs and cats grow to their maximum size within a few years, stay at that
size for several years, then often decrease in size the last few years of their lives. But Neotropical Cichlids continue to grow for their entire lives. So the term maximum size is a bit more
vague when applied to these fish.
The sizes listed above should be an important guide when buying fish. Be sure you are committed to providing the fish you buy with an appropriate home. Each of
these fish will eventually need a big aquarium.
Click
here to go to another web site which has lots of very interesting details about Cichlids.
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