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Introduction
For many years the Thorichthys complex has
been a favourite amongst hobbyist of Central
American cichlids. Thorichthys meeki (firemouth
cichlid) has been an established favourite since
first introduced to the aquarium hobby by Walter
Lannoy Brind in the beginning of the 20th centu-
ry. Walter L. Brind bought a large number of
specimens from a French sailor back in 1916
where he had reportedly collected them from a
small freshwater lagoon in the Yucatan Peninsula
in Mexico. Many specimens were made available
to hobbyist and made popular ever since. The
Firemouth cichlid is only the tip of the ice berg
when introducing the rich diversity of all the fish’s
described within the complex.
Thorichthys don’t seem to be so popular of late;
instead many hobbyist preferring to keep the big
and bad fish instead. A shame really, as a tank
dedicated to a large group of these fish can sel-
dom look better! Thorichthys tick all the boxes as
colour, behaviour and temperament are all
Thorichthys meeki pair guarding their spawn
Photo © Fenja Hardel / www.aufmdach.de
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