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Archocentrus spinosissimus has a stunning pearly
white base coloration with numerous black spots
adorning the body, leading to the name Peppered
Cichlid. This species also has magnificent trailers to
its dorsal and anal fins that flow and are adorned
with iridescent blue and green highlights.
(Archocentrus) spinosissimus by elevating Archo-
centrus to full generic status and since then the
fish has been classified as Archocentrus spinosissi-
mus.
Archocentrus spinosissimus has been hypothe-
sized to have close affinities with Archocentrus
centrarchus and Archocentrus multispinosus. Ar-
chocentrus multispinosus was formerly classified
as Herotilapia multispinosa with the key differ-
ence being in tooth structure, with Archocentrus
centrarchus and Archocentrus spinosissimus hav-
ing unicuspid or bicuspid teeth and Archocentrus
multispinosus having tricuspid teeth. Because
tooth structure is known to be very plastic in cich-
lids and not a reliable character, Schmitter-Soto
(2007) suggested synonymizing Herotilapia with
Archocentrus, but this move has been in dispute.
Molecular phylogenies suggest that this group
may not be monophyletic as Archocentrus multi-
spinosa groups closely with Tomocichla whereas
Archocentrus centrarchus is nestled within the
Amphilophus (Hulsey et al., 2004; Conchiero Perez
et al., 2006, Smith et al., 2008; Lopez-Fernandez
et al., 2010). Unfortunately, the phylogenetic po-
sition of Archocentrus spinosissimus is understud-
ied and very few studies have Archocentrus spi-
nosissimus samples.
Archocentrus spinosissimus grows to a very man-
ageable size of around 10-12 cm for the average
male with females growing smaller, typically closer
to 8 cm in length. The largest individual I’ve seen
of this species reached 15 cm. This species is not
highly sexually dimorphic. Other than differences
in size, Archocentrus spinosissimus males generally
have longer extensions to their dorsal and anal fins
as well as a rounder cranial profile. The differences
in the genital papilla when spawning are noticea-
ble between the sexes with females having a
rounder, blunter papilla.
Distribution
Archocentrus spinosissimus was described by Vail-
lant & Pellegrin in 1902 as Heros (Cichlasoma) spi-
nosissimus. The type specimen of Archocentrus
spinosissimus was collected in the Rio Polochic in
Guatemala, a tributary of Lake Izabal Basin to
which Archocentrus spinosissimus is endemic. This
species inhabits slow waters in the drainage that
have a high amount of aquatic vegetation. This fish
does not seem to be common throughout its range
and recent attempts to collect this species have
failed (Hanneman & M iddleton, pers. comm.)
Aquarium Care
Archocentrus spinosissimus poses some inter-
esting requirements. In my opinion, this species is
the shiest and least aggressive heroine cichlid. The
only times I have observed aggression has been
when the fish have been spawning. As such, I
would recommend maintaining this species in a
species only set up. While a tank of 150 litres will
suffice, a tank of around 208-284 litres is recom-
mended. While pairs could probably be housed in
an 80 litre aquarium, I’ve found keeping a group
of around 8 in a larger tank seems to be the best
method. Archocentrus spinosissimus is sensitive to
poor water quality and frequent water changes
are a must, with 50% water changes a week rec-
ommended.
Taxonomic History and Phylogeny
As stated above, Archocentrus spinosissimus was
described by Vaillant & Pellegrin in 1902 as Heros
(Cichlasoma) spinosissimus. In 1904 Pellegrin de-
scribed a variant of Cichlasoma (Archocentrus) spi-
nosissimus, also from the Rio Polochic, as Cichlaso-
ma spinosissimus var. immaculata. Cichlasoma spi-
nosissimus var. immaculate has since been proven
to be a synonym of Cryptoheros spilurus which is
also endemic to the Lake Izabal Basin (Kullander
2003; Schmitter-Soto, 2007). In 1930 Jordan et al.
created a new combination for Cichlasoma
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