This young pair of Ports decided that they were old enough to spawn. They are just about 4 inches long and still have at least a good two inches of length to grow before they are fully grown.
The pair
Male
Female
A few of the fry
Cichlasoma portalegrense is often confused with other members of the genus, in particular C. bimaculatum and C. dimerus. It can be distinguished from Cichlasoma bimaculatum by the heavy dark edging to the posterior of the head and body scales and by the 3 spines (as opposed to 4) in the anal fin. It actually more closely resembles C. dimerus but the most obvious differences between them are the larger and more spaced out dots in the upper lobe of the caudal fin, the shorter pectoral fins and the more rounded snout in adult specimens of Cichlasoma portalegrense. For comparison I provide a couple of photos of Cichlasoma bimaculatum and Cichlasoma dimerus for comparison.
Cichlasoma bimaculatum
Cichlasoma dimerus
The pair
Male
Female
A few of the fry
Cichlasoma portalegrense is often confused with other members of the genus, in particular C. bimaculatum and C. dimerus. It can be distinguished from Cichlasoma bimaculatum by the heavy dark edging to the posterior of the head and body scales and by the 3 spines (as opposed to 4) in the anal fin. It actually more closely resembles C. dimerus but the most obvious differences between them are the larger and more spaced out dots in the upper lobe of the caudal fin, the shorter pectoral fins and the more rounded snout in adult specimens of Cichlasoma portalegrense. For comparison I provide a couple of photos of Cichlasoma bimaculatum and Cichlasoma dimerus for comparison.
Cichlasoma bimaculatum
Cichlasoma dimerus