Crenicara
Encyclopedia
Crenicara is a small genus
of cichlid
fishes that are endemic to creeks and rivers in the Amazon
and Essequibo
basins in South America
. These cichlids have several dark spots on the side of their body, and do not surpass 10 centimetres (3.9 in) in length.
were sometimes included in Crenicara. Members of both genera are sometimes known as checkerboard or chessboard cichlids.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of cichlid
Cichlid
Cichlids are fishes from the family Cichlidae in the order Perciformes. Cichlids are members of a group known as the Labroidei along with the wrasses , damselfish , and surfperches . This family is both large and diverse. At least 1,300 species have been scientifically described, making it one of...
fishes that are endemic to creeks and rivers in the Amazon
Amazon Basin
The Amazon Basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries that drains an area of about , or roughly 40 percent of South America. The basin is located in the countries of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Venezuela...
and Essequibo
Essequibo River
The Esequibo River is the largest river in Guyana, and the largest river between the Orinoco and Amazon. Rising in the Acarai Mountains near the Brazil-Guyana border, the Essequibo flows to the north for 1,010 km through forest and savanna into the Atlantic Ocean.-Geography:There are countless...
basins in South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
. These cichlids have several dark spots on the side of their body, and do not surpass 10 centimetres (3.9 in) in length.
Species
In the past the members of the genus DicrossusDicrossus
Dicrossus is a genus of small cichlids fishes. They are native to rivers in the Amazon and Orinoco basins in South America. These cichlids have several dark spots on the side of their body...
were sometimes included in Crenicara. Members of both genera are sometimes known as checkerboard or chessboard cichlids.
- Crenicara latruncularium Kullander & Staeck, 1990
- Crenicara punctulatum GüntherAlbert C. L. G. GüntherAlbert Karl Ludwig Gotthilf Günther FRS, also Albert Charles Lewis Gotthilf Günther , was a German-born British zoologist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist....
, 1863