The cichlid fishes of Guyana, South America, with notes on their ecology and breeding behaviour

Field studies in Guyana, north-eastern South America, from 1957 to 1962 included observations on the ecology and behaviour of cichlids in natural waters. Collections made were examined at the British Museum (Natural History) together with other cichlid material from Guyana. This paper records these observations and gives keys for the field indentification of these cichlids. Fifteen genera comprising at least 35 species occur in Guyana, mostly species with a wide distribution in tropical South America. In the predatory Cichla ocellaris which grows larger than other South American cichlids, growth continues long after the fish matures. Males tend to be larger than associated females. The behaviour of Cichla ocellaris and Cichlasoma festivum when guarding their young suggests that the caudal ocellus has a vital role in the orientation of young to parent. Most of these cichlids in which breeding habits are known are substratum-spawners. An attachment gland, producing viscous threads, was found on the heads of recently hatched Geophagus jurupari young, although this species carries the young in the mouth.