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Astatheros margaritifer (Günther, 1862)
Original description as Heros margaritifer:
- Günther, Albert C. L. G.. 1862. "Catalogue of the fishes in the British Museum. Catalogue of the Acanthopterygii, Pharyngognathi and Anacanthini in the collection of the British Museum". Catalogue of the fishes in the British Museum London. Vol 4; i-xxi + 1-534 (crc00035).
Taxonomic history:
- Heros margaritifer, Günther, 1862, original combination.
- Astronotus (Astronotus) margaritifer, Eigenmann, 1893, new combination.
- Cichlasoma (Cichlasoma) margaritiferum, Jordan et al, 1896, new combination.
- Astronotus margaritifer, Eigenmann et al, 1903, new combination.
- Cichlosoma margaritiferum, Regan, 1905, new combination.
- Cichlasoma (Astatheros) margaritiferum, Regan, 1906, new combination.
- Astatheros margaritifer, Jordan et al, 1930, new combination.
- Cichlasoma (Amphilophus) margaritiferum, Miller, 1966, new combination.
- Erythrichthus margaritiferum, Fernández-Yépez, 1969, new combination.
- Amphilophus margaritiferus, Kullander, 1996, new combination.
Groupings:
- Habitat: Lakes: intermediate
Etymology: margarita + ferre = I bear pearls.
Types: Known from one 20 centimeter (8 inches) preserved specimen in the British Museum of Natural History.
Diagnosis: Most closely related to the Amphilophus species group.
Size: Up to 8 inches.
Sex dimorphism: Males may have spots on the unpaired fins, while females are clear..
Type locality: Lago Petén, Guatemala.
Distribution: Most likely the Rio Maria Linda drainage, including the former lakes under the Guatemala City and Lago Amatitlan, and other smaller coastal drainages to the east of Iztapa. May be present in Laguna de Calderas near Santa Elena de Barillas. Possibly introduced to the higher elevation lakes as early as the 1500s by Spanish priests..
Inhabited countries: Guatemala (endemic).
Habitat: Lakes and coastal rivers. Lago Amatitlan is severely polluted, and the Rio Maria Linda receives untreated effluent from Guatemala City and Escuintla. .
Localities: Lake Petén-Itza (Guatemala, native).
Feeding: Data not available but closely related to A. macracanthus..
Breeding: Unknown.
Conservation: Astatheros margaritifer is evaluated by the international union for the conservation of nature in the iucn red list of threatened species as (EN) endangered (2009). Lago Amatitlan, where one specimenwas captured, is undergoing severe eutrification, and could fill with sediment within 100 years. Coastal rivers run through areas with ranches and agriculture..
Comments: Long one of the great mysteries of Central American cichlids, the capture in 2011 of a single specimen in Lago Amatitlan raised as many questions as it answered. May have been common in the area around Guatemala City in the 1860s when Godman and Salvin visited. Those lakes have disappeared. However, regular volcanic eruptions likely caused loss of aquatic life in the area, leading the Spanish to stock Amatitlan and Atitlan with fish. Rosen and Bailey report capturing them with A. macracanthus, A. trimaculatus, and A. nigrofasciatus in coastal rivers. It is suspected that is how cichlids came to be found at such high elevations..
References:
- Bussing, William & M. Martin. 1975. "Systematic status, variation and distribution of four Middle American cichlid fishes belonging to the Amphilophus species group, genus Cichlasoma". Natural History Museum L.A. County Contributions of Science. 1-41 (crc01108).
- Eigenmann, Carl H.. 1893. "Catalogue of the fresh-water fishes of Central America and Southern Mexico.". Proceeding of the United States National Museum. 53-60 (crc02506).
- Fernández-Yépez, Agustín. 1969. "Contribución al conocimiento de los cíclidos". Evencias. No. 22; 7 unnumered. pp.; Pls. 1-10 (crc00247).
- Günther, Albert C. L. G.. 1862. "Catalogue of the fishes in the British Museum. Catalogue of the Acanthopterygii, Pharyngognathi and Anacanthini in the collection of the British Museum". Catalogue of the fishes in the British Museum London. Vol 4; i-xxi + 1-534 (crc00035).
- Günther, Albert C. L. G.. 1867. "On the fishes of the states of Central America, founded upon specimens collected in fresh and marine waters of various parts of that country by Messrs. Salvin and Godman and Capt. J. M. Dow". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 600-604 (crc00014).
- Jordan, David Starr & B.W. Evermann. 1896. "Checklist of the fishes and fish like vertebrates of North and Middle America". Report of the Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries. XXI: 207-584 (crc02517).
- Jordan, David Starr & B.W. Evermann & H.W. Clark. 1930. "Checklist of the fishes and fishlike vertebrates of North and Middle America. Appendix X. ". Report of the US Commissioner of Fisheries. 416-424 (crc02509).
- Kullander, Sven. 1996. "Heroina isonycterina, a new species of cichlid fish from Western Amazonia, with comments on cichlasomine systematics". Ichthyological Explorations of Freshwaters. v. 7(n. 2), pp. 149-172 (crc01223) (abstract).
- Miller, Robert Rush. 1966. "Geographical distribution of Central American freshwater fishes". Copeia. v. 1966 (n. 4); pp. 773-802 (crc01105).
- Regan, Charles Tate. 1905. "A revision of the fishes of the American cichlid genus Cichlosoma and of the allied genera". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. (Ser. 7) vol. 16; pp 60-77; 225-243; 316-340; 433-445 (crc00042).
- Regan, Charles Tate. 1906. "Pices". Biologia Centrali-Americana. pp. 17-31 (cichlidae) (crc00277).
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