Lowland Cichlid, Herichthys carpintis
Lowland Cichlid, Herichthys carpintis, Juvenile. Fish caught from a pond within a private residence in Southeastern Florida, December 2020. Length: 8.8 cm (3.5 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Ben Cantrell, San Diego, California.
Lowland Cichlid, Herichthys carpintis, Juvenile. Fish caught from an urban pond in Anaheim, California, November 2023. Length: 10.1 cm (3.9 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Chris Moore, Peoria, Arizona. This catch is far out of known range and appears to have come from an established non-native feral population establish via an aquarium release.
Lowland Cichlid, Herichthys carpintis. Fish caught from an irrigation canal in Orlando Florida, April 2021. Length: 17 cm (6.7 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Luke Ovgard, Klamath Falls, Oregon.
The Lowland Cichlid, Herichthys carpintis, is a member of the Cichlid and Tilapia or Cichlidae Family, that is also known as the Pearlscale Cichlid and the Texas Cichlid and known in Mexico as mojarra tampigueña. Globally, there are nine species in the genus Herichthys, and all nine are found in the freshwater systems of Mexico.
The Lowland Cichlid has a “bluegill” body profile with the adults having a striking blue-green turquoise coloration across its entire body with a light olive to dark background dorsally and are covered with cream reflective spots affording a speckled look. They are sexually dimorphic with adult males have a nuchal hump on the forehead and females having a black blotch on their dorsal fin with longer and deeper bodies than the males. Their anal fin has 5 to 7 spines and 7 to 11 rays; their dorsal fin has 15 to 18 spines and 10 to 14 rays; and their pectoral fins are long. They have 7 to 15 gill rakers. Their body is covered with large scales.
The Lowland Cichlid is a freshwater robust, gregarious fish that is highly adaptive and can be found in creeks, lagoons and rivers over gavel, mud and stone substrate with slow to strong currents at depths up to 2.5 m (8 feet) with water temperatures between 23oC (73oF) and 33oC (91oF). They reach a maximum of 17 cm (6.7 inches) in length with males being larger than females. The Lowland Cichlid is active diurnally as an omnivore that consume fish eggs, insects and small fishes, detritus, crustaceans, insects, plant materials and worms. Reproduction is oviparous with the female laying between 150 and 1,000 eggs on hard substrate which are immediately fertilized by the males. During this process both sexes will change color becoming white dorsally and black ventrally. The females care for the eggs and the males defending the territory. The eggs hatch in 2 days and are moved to spawning pits by the adults, and within 7 days the fry become free swimming. The Lowland Cichlid is poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction.
The Lowland Cichlid is native to the lowland areas on the Atlantic Slope of southeast Mexico from the Río Soto la Marina to Río Pánuco at elevations below 1,000 m (3,300 feet) in the States of Hidalgo, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí, Tamaulipas, and Veracruz.
The Lowland Cichlid are very similar to and often confused with the Blue Texas or Green Cichlid, Herichthys cyanoguttatus (smaller spots).
From a conservation perspective the Lowland Cichlid is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. Their long-term viability is threated by human developments that cause altered water supplies and pollution and the introduction of non-native species by commercial and sports fishermen and highly invasive aquatic vegetations. They are popular with the aquarium trade, but require large aquariums as they are known to consume their smaller tankmates, as they will grow in captivity to an impressive size and are long-lived. They have fairly aggressive behaviors, especially when breeding, and have excellent personalities. They are known to bred in captivity. They require large aquariums and frequent water changes.