Geophagini is a tribe of cichlids from the subfamily Cichlinae, the American cichlids. It is the sister taxon to the clade which includes the Cichlasomatini and Heroini. Fishes in the Geophagini are distributed from Panama south to Argentina, it is the most speciose of the seven tribes within the Cichlinae and it is subdivided into three sub-tribes, Acarichthyina, Crenicaratina, and Geophagina which together contain over 200 species. Geophagines show morphological and behavioural specialisations to enable them to sift the substrates within their mouths so that they can separate benthic invertebrates from substrates dominated by sand or silt.
Classification
The Geophagini are classified as follows:
- Subtribe Acarichthyina <small>Kullander, 1998</small>
- Genus Acarichthys <small>C. H. Eigenmann, 1912</small>
- Genus Guianacara <small>Kullander & Nijssen, 1989</small>
- Subtribe Crenicaratina <small>Kullander, 1998</small>
- Genus Biotoecus <small>C. H. Eigenmann & C. H. Kennedy, 1903</small>
- Genus Crenicara <small>Steindachner, 1875</small>
- Genus Crenicichla <small>Heckel, 1840</small>
- Now split into Hemeraia, Lugubria, Saxatilia and Wallaciia
- Genus Dicrossus <small>Steindachner, 1875</small>
- Genus Teleocichla <small>Kullander, 1988</small>
- Subtribe Geophagina <small>Haseman, 1911</small>
- Genus Apistogramma <small>Regan, 1913</small>
- Genus Apistogrammoides <small>Meinken, 1965</small>
- Genus Biotodoma <small>C. H. Eigenmann & C. H. Kennedy, 1903</small>
- Genus Geophagus <small>Heckel, 1840</small>
- Genus Gymnogeophagus <small>Miranda-Ribeiro, 1918</small>
- Genus Mazarunia <small>Kullander, 1990</small>
- Genus Mikrogeophagus <small>Meulengracht-Madsen, 1968</small>
- Genus Satanoperca <small>Günther, 186</small>2
- Genus Taeniacara <small>G. S. Myers, 1935</small>
References