Vieja melanurus

Vieja melanurus
Conservation status
	Not evaluated (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Perciformes
Family:	Cichlidae
Subfamily:	Cichlasomatinae
Genus:	Paraneetroplus
Species:	P. synspilus
Binomial name
	Paraneetroplus synspilus; (C. L. Hubbs, 1935)
Synonyms
	Cichlasoma synspilum C. L. Hubbs, 1935; Vieja synspila (C. L. Hubbs, 1935); Vieja synspilum (C. L. Hubbs, 1935); Cichlaurus hicklingi Fowler, 1956; Cichlasoma hicklingi (Fowler, 1956);

Paraneetroplus synspilus, the quetzal cichlid, redhead cichlid or firehead cichlid, is a species of cichlid native to Central America where it occurs in the Usumacinta River drainage in the countries of Mexico, Belize and Guatemala. This species can reach a length of 35 centimetres (14 in) TL. It is also popular in the aquarium trade.^[1]

It is one of the most colourful cichlid species with males displaying metallic green, blue, green, pink and orange along their flanks. It has been used in creating new hybridized aquarium cichlids that became popular in Asia in recent years and is probably one of the parents of modern blood parrot cichlids and flowerhorn cichlids.

References

^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Paraneetroplus synspilus". FishBase. April 2013 version.

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[1] Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Paraneetroplus synspilus". FishBase. April 2013 version.

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