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The beautiful blue spangling will intensify as
the fish becomes mature
Notes and aquarium experience
This beautiful robust cichlid first saw its origins in
the Rio de Sarabia, Coatzacoalcos basin in Mexi-
co. Rocio octofasciata has had a troubled taxono-
my history, where it has been linked with the ge-
nus Archocentrus, Nandopsis and the pending cat-
egory of exCichlasoma. Only until the important
research paper: "A systematic revision of the ge-
nus Archocentrus (Perciformes: Cichlidae), with
the description of two new genera and six new
species", Schmitter-Soto, Juan Jacobo, 2007, saw
the fish have its very own complex of Rocio.
Introduced to the aquarium hobby since 1904,
Rocio octofasciata soon adopted the undeserved
early reputation as a highly aggressive cichlid,
which later saw the fish nicknamed "Jack Demp-
sey" after the famous boxer in the 1920's.
Although quite common, it's a beautiful fish to
keep. Males especially will develop fantastic blue
spangling as the fish matures. Females aren't quite
so colourful, but develop more overall blue patter-
ing on the operculum region. Apart from size, this
is the easiest trait to look for when separating sex-
es. I find them to be a semi aggressive cichlid only
and quite suitable for medium to large Central
American communities.
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