Publication2 med aquascape Publication1cs complete | Page 82

A.Centrarchus male in normal colouration
I’m ashamed to say that Archocentrus centrarchus
has been a rather overlooked species in my time of
keeping Central American cichlids, but after acquir-
ing a small group back in 2011, I’m certainly glad I
took the plunge.
Archocentrus centrarchus hail from the Atlantic
slope of Nicaragua and Costa Rica, inhabiting the
quieter parts of rivers and streams, they are also
found in lakes (Lake Nicaragua). They are classed
as a small to medium sized cichlids where certain
aquarium populations are reported to attain sizes
of up to 20cm/ 8”, however, sizes of 15cm/ 6” is
usually the norm.
All currently assigned species of Archocentrus are
substrate spawners. The etymology means archo =
anus + Greek, kentron = stinger; referring to the
spine on the anal fin, centrarchus = this name was
given to the species because of similarity in ap-
pearance to the flier sunfish of the genus Centrar-
chus.
Younger specimens are a silvery grey colour with
around seven vertical bars. As they mature the
overall body colour will take on a yellow/green
complex with light blue extending from the gill
cover through the middle of the flanks. Sexual di-
morphism can be weak with centrarchus, but as
the fish mature the male will become more heavily
built with a pointed dorsal fin, females appear
more rounded in comparison.
Although described by Gill and Bransford in 1877,
the fish weren’t commercially available in the
aquarium trade until specimens were imported in
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