Lista de géneros

Thorichthys

Thorichthys affinis
affinis

Thorichthys aureus
aureus

Thorichthys callolepis
callolepis

Thorichthys helleri
helleri

Thorichthys maculipinnis
maculipinnis

Thorichthys meeki
meeki

Thorichthys pasionis
pasionis

Thorichthys socolofi
socolofi

Thorichthys sp. 'mixteco'
sp. 'mixteco'

El Cichlid Room Companion

Sub-familia
Cichlinae

Tribu
Heroini

Género
Thorichthys

Estado
válida


Curador
Juan Miguel Artigas Azas

Publicado
11-dic-2005

Última actualización el :
11-dic-2005

Macho en acuario Un macho de Thorichthys pasionis en el acuario de Juan Miguel Artigas Azas, nótese la membrana negra distintiva de las branquias.Foto por Juan Miguel Artigas Azas. certificador Juan Miguel Artigas Azas.

Thorichthys pasionis (Rivas, 1962)

Versiones
Thorichthys pasionis freshly collected adult from a lagoon besides lower Carriales River [Grijalva], near the city of Villahermosa [México]
Adulto de Thorichthys pasionis recién capturado del lago Petén-Itza [Guatemala] Oct-2009. Notense los arcos branquiales rojos, los que son negros en la mayoria de los indivíduos pero sin embargo rojos en algunos, como el mostrado en la foto
Pareja de Thorichthys pasionis (F1) de la Laguna Noh, cuenca del Usumacinta [México] cortejando en el acuario de Lee Nuttal [Inglaterra]
Thorichthys pasionis pairs from Noh Lake, Usumacinta drainage [México], defending their territories in the aquarium
Parejas de Thorichthys pasionis de la Laguna Noh [México], defendiendo el límite de sus territorios e intimidando a una pareja vecina, en el acuario de Lee Nuttal [Inglaterra]

Descripción original como Cichlasoma pasionis:

Historia taxonómica:

Agrupaciones:

Etimología: pasionis refers to the type material collecting place, Rio de la Pasión, an affluent of the Usumacinta river system in Guatemala.

Nombres comunes: Blackgullet cichlid (literature, English), Yellow meeki (commercial, English).

Localidad tipo: Río de la Pasión at Sayaxche, Río Usumacinta drainage, Deptartamento del Petén, Guatemala.

Distribución: Thorichthys pasionis is always found sympatrically with Thorichthys meeki, as it inhabits a great part of the range of the latter. The yellow meeki has its westernmost range in México in rivers and lagoons in the lower Grijalva river around the city of Villahermosa, north to the mouth of the Grijalva-Usumacinta river system. The yellow meeki range extends eastwards reaching the Rio Usumacinta affluents in the Petén area in northern Guatemala, where it seems to be especially abundant. Thorichthys pasionis range includes Rio Usumacinta affluents San Pedro and la Pasión. The species is also found in the basin of the rivers Chompán and Candelaria, all these rivers flowing to the gulf of México. Thorichthys pasionis is absent in the north and south-eastern parts of the Yucatán peninsula and in Belize, in the basin of the rivers Hondo, New River, Belize, and Sibun, where Thorichthys meeki extends his companion range.

Paises que habita: Guatemala (native), México (native).

Biótopo: Thorichthys pasionis seems to be especially fond of lagoons rather than rivers with sof muddy bottoms and slow flow to stagnant water. They are inhabitants of the shallow parts of rivers and lagoons, where they are normally found in groups of all ages. The water in the yellow meeki inhabits is normally low visibility, although not murky. Temperature range between 24º to 30º Celsius, pH always on the alkaline side, from 7.5 up to 8.5. Hardness is variable with measurements of 8 degrees and up of General Hardness.

Localidades: Carrizales River (México, native), Lake Petén-Itza (Guatemala, native), Noh Lagoon (México, native).

Alimentación: Picks invertebrates in the soft bottom of the habitat.

Reproducción: Bi-parental, substrate spawning cichlids. Pairs are formed from February to May. Eggs yellowish, adhesive, and rather small in size with a maximum length of 1.7 mm (Coleman & Galvani, 1998), over five hundred per spawn in adult pairs. Pairs take extended care of the fry.

Acuarismo: Thorichthys pasionis is not very aggressive and is a very beautiful cichlid that can easily be kept in the home aquarium. To obtain their more brilliant colors, however, it is necessary to keep them in the best conditions. They do not require such large tanks as most Central American cichlids - 250 liters, at least 1.20 meters long will suffice. Most of the time a tank this size will be large enough for a group of them, but I would nevertheless advise a tank at least 1.50 m long. Always choose a larger surface area in preference to deeper tanks (area is more important than height). When aquascaping, it is best to simulate their natural surroundings as described above, fine sand substrate (avoid mud, though!) and plenty of cover being best. This fish does much better when kept in groups. It's always better for them to look a little (just a little!) crowded in order to divide their aggressiveness between multiple targets and at the same time produce more natural behavior. Dither fish are also an important part of the environment that should be provided. Thorichthys pasionis do well with large poeciliids (very small ones are eaten under aquarium conditions) as well as with many other similar, non-aggressive but fast-moving fish. In spite of their cichlid aggressiveness, given the right size aquarium yellow meeki ignore fish that do not pose direct competition. Yellow meeki will greedily eat most foods offered, but although they are carnivorous, try to avoid offering them warm-blooded animal meat, which can typically cause them digestive problems that can lead to death.

Conservación: Thorichthys pasionis no es evaluada en la lista roja de especies amenazadas de la Unión Internacional para la Conservación de la NaturalezaNot listed in the Mexican Official Norm NOM-059-ECOL-2001 with any degree of protection. Although faced with pollution in part of its range, most of it remains relatively stable.

Comentarios: The evolutionary history of Thorichthys pasionis is a whole complete mystery. The species must certainly have some kind of ecological relationship with the syntopic Thorichthys meeki, the firemouth cichlid, but what is it? Hard to tell without any possibility of studying them in the cloudy water of the habitat. What is it that prevents them from hybridization (assuming they don't) in the wild? What provided the grounds for two species to evolve sympatrically? If they did. There is, of course, the possibility that they evolved geographically separated from each other and later came to overlap, but this doesn't appear to be indicated by the paleogeography of their distribution. I have kept an 800 liters aquarium with these two species for several years and found that under aquarium conditions they do hybridize, although on just a few occasions. So what are the forces preventing this in the wild?.

Referencias:

Cita:

Artigas Azas, Juan Miguel. (diciembre 11, 2005). "Thorichthys pasionis (Rivas, 1962)". El Cichlid Room Companion. Consultado en mayo 22, 2013, desde: http://www.cichlidae.com/gallery/species.php?id=249&content=profile&lang=es.


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