Geophagus


Geophagus is a genus of cichlids that mainly live in South America as far south as Argentina and Uruguay, but a single species, G. crassilabris is from Panama. They are found in a wide range of freshwater habitats. They are part of a group popularly known as eartheaters and mostly feed by picking up mouthfuls of sediment to sift out food items such as invertebrates, plant material and detritus. The largest species reach up to in standard length. They are often kept in aquariums.

Taxonomy

Some cichlids previously included in this genus have been reallocated to Biotodoma, Gymnogeophagus or Satanoperca. Even with these as separate genera, Geophagus is currently polyphyletic and in need of further taxonomic revision. There are three main groups:
There are currently 31 recognized species in this genus. Additionally, undescribed species are known.