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Let us take a look at our first contender Pa-
rachromis dovii. They occur in rivers and lakes
from Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica, from
the Aguan River (Honduras) in much of the crater
Lakes (Nicaragua),to the Moín River (Costa Rica);
Pacific slope from the Yeguare River (Honduras)
to the Bebedero River (CostaRica).
Named by Günther after the fish collector John
Dow, this cichlid is the largest in the Parachromis
complex reaching a size of 63cm- 24” and over.
Parachromis dovii are piscivores in the wild, but
will except other commercial foods such as large
cichlid pellets or food sticks. As they are pis-
civores, keeping them with other cichlids and fish
of a much smaller size certainly isn’t recommend-
ed; Neetroplus nematopus is one their main sta-
ple in the Nicaragua crater lakes.
Young semi adult fish maybe kept with other cich-
lids of similar size in a large tank, but in reality
they are recommended as a single species only.
I personally wouldn’t keep a pair in anything less
than 300g aquarium. They are big powerful cich-
lids that will easily dominate a tank!
Spawning is fairly straight forward with a compati-
ble pair as they will clean and choose a large rock
to deposit a large number of eggs. Compatibility is
key with this species, as it is not uncommon for
the male to turn on and kill the female. For this
reason, spawning this species is recommended in
a controlled environment using an egg-crate type
divider.
Our second contender; Caquetaia umbrifera
(Umbee) again is the largest of the Caquetaia
complex and largest of all Neotropical cichlids. C.
umbrifera is known to attain a size of 80cm- 31”,
so makes this a potentially massive cichlid!
The Umbee is primarily a South American fish, as
much of their range is in the Rivers of Columbia;
notably the Río Atrato and Río Magdalena where
there are noted to be different colour morphs.
However, they also have a small range over the
border into the Pacific slope of the Río Chucu-
naque, Panama. Again the Umbee is primarily a
piscivore, predator fish, so choose tank mates
wisely. Like P. dovii, they are recommended for a
species tank only where a compatible pair will
have enough room to spawn. Umbee’s are open
substrate spawners and will produce very large
broods. Females when spawning look quite dis-
tinctive from males as they turn a shade of yellow.
© Stefan Zelinka http://www.stiffcichlids.com/
stiff/index.php
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