Parachromis managuensis
Template:Short description Template:Speciesbox
Parachromis managuensis is a large species of cichlid native to freshwater habitats in Central America, where it is found from Honduras to Costa Rica.<ref name="FishBase"/> The binomial name refers to Lake Managua in Nicaragua, from which the holotype was obtained.<ref name="EschmeyerCOF"/> It is a food fish and is also found in the aquarium trade where it is variously known as the jaguar cichlid, managuense cichlid, managua cichlid, guapote tigre, Aztec cichlid, spotted guapote and jaguar guapote.<ref name="FishBase"/> In Costa Rica, it is known as the guapote tigre.<ref name="CCT.Ramsar"/>
DescriptionEdit
P. managuensis is a robust fish with a silvery or golden-green to purple colour, with a darker moss green shade at the dorsum. The sides show a purple iridescence and the belly is whitish or yellowish. A series of several large black dots then run horizontally along the lateral line area. The fins are often a dark to black coloration, especially when in spawning coloration. The most distinguished feature is a black stripe than run from the eye to the opercular margin.<ref name="FishBase"/> Males grow to a total length of Template:Convert and females to Template:Convert.<ref name="DelMoral-Flores2020"/> The female also lacks the elongated extensions to the dorsal fins.
EcologyEdit
P. managuensis inhabits lakes and prefers turbid waters with mud bottoms and is tolerant to eutrophic and hypoxic conditions.<ref name="DelMoral-Flores2020" /> It is a carnivorous, highly predatory species. Adults feed mainly on small fish, while juveniles rely on a variety of macroinvertebrates. It prefers turbid, eutrophic lakes, often found in warm water depleted of oxygen. Its native substrate is mud-bottoms, but it can also be found in ponds and springs with sandy bottoms covered in plant debris. The species inhabits lakes in a tropical climate and prefers water with a 7.0–8.7 pH, a water hardness of 10–15 dGH, and a temperature range of Template:Convert.<ref name="FishBase"/>
DistributionEdit
The natural distribution of P. managuensis goes from the Ulúa River in Honduras to Matina River basin in Costa Rica.<ref name="FishBase"/> However, it has been introduced in other countries in Central America, as well as in the United States, as a food source, for aquarism and to control fish populations.<ref name="DelMoral-Flores2020"/>
Conservation statusEdit
This species has been assessed by the IUCN Red List as least-concern species.<ref name=IUCN/> It occurs in the Maquenque National Wildlife Refuge.<ref name="CCT.Ramsar"/>