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Vieja

Mcmahan, Caleb D.;Matamoros, Wilfredo A.;Piller, Kyle R.;Chakrabarty, Prosanta

EntityQ3557970· pop 14· linked from 14 articles

Vieja is a genus of cichlid fish from Central America and Mexico. The majority of the species are freshwater fish found in stagnant or slow-moving waters of southern Mexico to El Salvador, but V. maculicauda, which also occurs in brackish waters, ranges south to Panama. They are high-bodied cichlids that reach lengths of up to depending on the exact species. Vieja feed mostly on vegetable matter, but may also take small invertebrates.

Species

GENUS

  1. KingdomAnimalia
  2. PhylumChordata
  3. ClassTeleostei
  4. OrderPerciformes
  5. FamilyCichlidae
Habitatbrackish, freshwater
Observations recorded4,739

via GBIF

Museum specimens

Specimen records
119
With media
15
Family
Cichlidae
Collections
ECOSUR, NCSM, UMMZ
Recorded in
Guatemala, United States, Belize

~2 min read

Encyclopedic overview

2 sections
Contents
  • Taxonomy and species
  • References

Vieja is a genus of cichlid fish from Central America and Mexico. The majority of the species are freshwater fish found in stagnant or slow-moving waters of southern Mexico to El Salvador, but V. maculicauda, which also occurs in brackish waters, ranges south to Panama. They are high-bodied cichlids that reach lengths of up to depending on the exact species. Vieja feed mostly on vegetable matter, but may also take small invertebrates.

==Taxonomy and species== Historically, Vieja was included in Cichlasoma. Once recognized as its own genus, it sometimes included most of the superficially similar, relatively large and high-bodied cichlids of Central America and southern Mexico, but several of these are now considered to belong to separate genera: Chuco, Cincelichthys, Isthmoheros, Kihnichthys, Maskaheros and Oscura (Oscuro might still be better merged with Vieja, but this remains unconfirmed). Conversely, Vieja has sometimes been included in Paraneetroplus.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Vieja” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (2)