Distribution:
Central and South America, Africa, West Indies, Madagascar, Israel, Syria, coastal India, and Sri Lanka.
Habitat:
Marine; tropical and subtropical water.
Remarks:
The Cichlids are medium to small size freshwater fishes living in tropical and subtropical regions. They appear in a variety of sizes, shapes, and color, making them popular for aquariums. They have a slightly deep and compressed body with a lateral line interrupted. A distinguishing feature among the cichlids is the single nostril on each side of the head. Some species feed on zooplankton, others prefer fish, invertebrates, mollusks and even cichlid eggs. All members of this family use labriform locomotion and primarily use their pectoral fins for swimming. Their breeding habits is highly organized and exhibits many elements, which entails both sexes guarding the eggs in a nest-like basin hollowed in the sand. Once the eggs hatched, the females carry them in their mouth, and in some cases the females secrete a whitish substance from the skin to feed their young. Many resemble the American sunfishes. The Cichlids can grow to a reported maximum length of 80 cm.
This family contains 112 genera with approximately 1,300 species.
References: Nelson 2006; Wheeler 1975; Columbia Encyclopedia