Cryptoheros

{{short description|Genus of cichlid fishes}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = Archocentrus sajica 3 (Piotr Kuczynski).jpg| | image_caption = ''Cryptoheros sajica'' | display_parents = 2 | taxon = Cryptoheros | authority = Allgayer, 2001 | type_species = ''Heros spilurus'' | type_species_authority = Günther, 1862 }}

'''''Cryptoheros''''' is a genus of small cichlid fishes from Central America and southeast Mexico. They reach up to {{cvt|13|cm|in}} in length.<ref name=FishBase>{{FishBase genus | genus = Cryptoheros| month = June | year = 2018}}</ref>

==Taxonomy and species== The genus formerly contained nine species that had been included within the genus ''Archocentrus''.<ref name=soto>{{cite book|author=Schmitter-Soto, J.|title=Zootaxa: A systematic revision of the genus ''Archocentrus'' (Perciformes:Cichlidae), with a description of two new Genera and six new species|year=2007|page=43|publisher=Magnolia Press|url=http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2007f/z01603p078f.pdf|isbn=978-1-86977-160-7}}</ref> The convict cichlid has sometimes been placed within the genus ''Cryptoheros'' as well, but is now considered a member of the genus ''Amatitlania''.<ref name="pfk">{{cite web|url=http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/pages/item.php?news=1399 |title=Convict and Jack Dempsey placed in new genera |accessdate=2008-06-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071228234519/http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/pages/item.php?news=1399 |archivedate=2007-12-28 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=rican/> Several other species such as ''Amatitlania septemfasciata'' and ''Amatitlania sajica'' had also once been included within ''Cryptoheros''.<ref name=soto/>

FishBase currently recognizes four species in this genus:<ref name=FishBase/>

* ''Cryptoheros chetumalensis'' Schmitter-Soto, 2007 – Belize to the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico * ''Cryptoheros cutteri'' (Fowler, 1932) – Atlantic side of Honduras to Guatemala * ''Cryptoheros panamensis'' (Meek & Hildebrand, 1913) – Atlantic side of Panama * ''Cryptoheros spilurus'' (Günther, 1862) (Blue-eye cichlid) – Lake Izabal drainage in Guatemala

''C. panamenis'' is placed in the subgenus ''Panamius'' within ''Cryptoheros''. However, genetic analysis by Říčan, et al. revealed that ''C. panamensis'' is not closely related to the other species that are included in ''Cryptoheros''. They recommended that ''Panamius'' should be elevated to a full genus, meaning that ''C. panamensis'' becomes ''Panamius panamensis''.<ref name=rican>{{cite journal|title=Diversity and evolution of the Middle American cichlid fishes (Teleostei: Cichlidae) with revised classification|author=Říčan, O.|author2=Piálek, L.|author3=Dragová, K.|author4=Novák, J.|name-list-style=amp|journal=Vertebrate Zoology|pages=1–102|volume=66|issue=1|year=2016|doi=10.3897/vz.66.e31534 |doi-access=free |url=https://www.senckenberg.de/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/01_vertebrate_zoology_66-1_rican_1-102.pdff|accessdate=2019-01-25}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Fish of Central America Category:Heroini Category:Cichlid genera