Amphilophus
| Amphilophus | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Midas cichlid (A. citrinellus) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Perciformes |
| Family: | Cichlidae |
| Tribe: | Heroini |
| Genus: |
Amphilophus Agassiz, 1859 |
| Type species | |
|
Amphilophus froebelii Agassiz, 1859 |
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| Synonyms | |
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Amphilophus is a genus of cichlid fishes from Central America, ranging from southern Mexico to Panama. The genus currently contains 23 species, including several that are well-known from the aquarium trade. However, a 2008 study led by Oldrich Rican suggested that several species within Amphilophus should be moved to the genus Astatheros. Species proposed to be moved to Astatheros are A. alfari, A. altifrons, A. bussingi, A. diquis, A. longimanus, A. macracanthus (which would be the type species for Astatheros), A. margaritifer, A. rhytisma, A. robertsoni and A. rostratus. Rican's study suggests that the Astatheros species are more closely related to the Jack Dempsey and rainbow cichlid than to the remaining Amphilophus species.
Several species from this genus are endemic to the small Lake Apoyo (6 species) and Lake Xiloá (4 species) in Nicaragua, and are believed to be the result of sympatric speciation.
There are currently 27 recognized species in this genus:
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Wikipedia