Geophaginae
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"Eartheater" redirects here. For earth eating in general, see geophagy.
| Geophaginae | |
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| A dwarf cichlid (Apistogramma agassizii) above, and an eartheater (Geophagus brasiliensis) below | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Perciformes |
| Family: | Cichlidae |
| Subfamily: | Geophaginae Haseman, 1911 |
| Genera | |
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Geophaginae is a subfamily of cichlid fishes from South America, where they are found as far west as the Andes and as far south as northern Argentina. Very roughly, the subfamily can be divided into two subgroups based on appearance and to some extent behavior (from a phylogenetic point of view this grouping is not correct, however):
- Dwarf cichlids, which do not surpass 10 centimetres (3.9 in) in length: Apistogramma, Apistogrammoides, Biotoecus, Crenicara, Dicrossus, Mazarunia, Microgeophagus, and Taeniacara.
- Eartheaters, a range of medium-small to fairly large cichlids, where many species have a habit of picking up large mouthfuls or earth or sand: Acarichthys, Biotodoma, Geophagus, Gymnogeophagus, and Satanoperca (the superficially similar Retroculus are sometimes also called eartheaters, but are members of another subfamily).
[edit] Genera
- Acarichthys
- Apistogramma
- Apistogrammoides
- Biotodoma
- Biotoecus
- Crenicara
- Dicrossus
- Geophagus
- Gymnogeophagus
- Mazarunia
- Microgeophagus
- Satanoperca
- Taeniacara
[edit] External links
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