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Distribution & habitat
The range of Thorichthys species are from the At-
lantic slope from southern Mexico, through Belize,
Guatemala and northern Honduras. They inhabit a
range of environments such as lakes, rivers, ponds
and small creeks. Different temperature ranges
and habitats will be found in the Thorichthys bio-
tope. You can expect a range between 24-28c/ 75-
82f where the water can be fast or slow flowing
sometimes murky or in the cenotes it will be crys-
tal clear. A range of aquatic plants can sometimes
be found like Nymphaea sp (water Lilies) and wa-
ter hyacinths. In some habitats overhanging mar-
ginal vegetation can be present. The lake or river
bed will be sandy with sunken wood and leaf litter,
where many Thorichthys species will use as a
spawning site. Thorichthys can be very sociable
and are observed in large groups where they for-
age, however they never shoal.
When choosing different Thorichthys species, it
will be worth remembering that they are catego-
rized into 2 species groupings. Group 1 is Thorich-
thys helleri. This group consists of T. aureus, T.
macculipinnis, T. callolepis, T. helleri, T. socolofi
and sp. ‘mixteco’. This group are normally found in
lower temperatures where the water is moderate-
ly fast flowing with a higher oxygen content level.
Group 2 is the Thorichthys meeki group. This in-
cludes two other species, Thorichthys affinis and
Thorichthys pasionis. This group of cichlids are
usually found in lower reaches of calmer rivers,
lakes and swamps where the water is much warm-
er and has lower oxygen content. Many have
different geographical variations; of particular
note is Thorichthys meeki where they possibly
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