{{Short description|Genus of fishes}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = Fish Georgia aquarium - 37529483172 (cropped).jpg | image_caption = ''S. daemon'' | taxon = Satanoperca | display_parents = 3 | authority = Günther, 1862 | type_species = ''Geophagus daemon'' | type_species_authority = Heckel, 1840 }}
'''''Satanoperca''''' is a small genus of cichlids from South America, where they are known from the Orinoco, Essequibo, Nickerie, Amazon and Paraná–Paraguay river basins.<ref name="CoF">{{Cof genus|genus=Satanoperca|access-date=17 November 2025}}</ref><ref name="FishBase"/> They are mainly found in areas with slow-moving waters,<ref name="Sleen2017"/> but some species have also been recorded from rapids.<ref name="Kullander2012"/>
They are part of a group popularly known as eartheaters and feed by picking up mouthfuls of sand to sift out food items such as invertebrates, plant material and detritus (the only exception is mid-water feeding ''S. acuticeps'').<ref name=Sleen2017/> They often feed in small groups and one individual may act as a watchman, which will charge an approaching piranha with its mouth open and fins erected. The ''Satanoperca'' in the group take turn acting as watchman.<ref name="Sleen2017"/>
''Satanoperca'' are up to {{cvt|25.5|cm|in|0}} in standard length, but the smallest species reach less than {{2/3}} that size.<ref name="FishBase"/> The species fall into two or three main groups: The ''S. daemon'' group (including ''S. lilith'') are relatively large, and have a distinct dark spot on the tail and one or two dark spots on the side of the body. ''S. acuticeps'' is rather similar and variably placed in its own group or included in the ''S. daemon'' group, but it has three dark spots on the body and a differently shaped mouth. The remaining species are part of the ''S. jurupari'' group, which may have a small tail-spot and may have a poorly defined pattern of dark bands or blotches on the body, but always lack distinct dark spots on the body.<ref name="Kullander1988"/><ref name="Willis2012"/><ref name="Ota2018"/>
==Species== There are currently 10 recognized species in this genus.<ref name="CoF"/><ref name="FishBase"/> Additionally, several undescribed species are known.<ref name="Willis2012"/>
* ''Satanoperca acuticeps'' {{small|(Heckel, 1840)}} (Sharphead eartheater) * ''Satanoperca curupira'' {{small|Ota et al., 2018}}<ref name="Ota2018"/> * ''Satanoperca daemon'' {{small|(Heckel, 1840)}} (Threespot eartheater) * ''Satanoperca jurupari'' {{small|(Heckel, 1840)}} (Demon eartheater) * ''Satanoperca leucosticta'' {{small|(J. P. Müller & Troschel, 1848)}} * ''Satanoperca lilith'' {{small|S. O. Kullander & E. J. G. Ferreira, 1988}} (One-spotted eartheater, Lilith's eartheater) * ''Satanoperca mapiritensis'' {{small|(Fernández-Yépez, 1950)}} * ''Satanoperca pappaterra'' {{small|(Heckel, 1840)}} (Pantanal eartheater) * ''Satanoperca rhynchitis'' {{small|S. O. Kullander, 2012}} * ''Satanoperca setepele'' {{small|Ota, Deprá, Kullander, Graça & Pavanelli, 2022}}<ref name="ETY2022"/>
== References == {{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="ETY2022">{{cite web|last1=Scharpf|first1=Christopher|last2=Lazara|first2=Kenneth J.|title=Satanoperca setepele Ota, Deprá, Kullander, Graça & Pavanelli 2022|date=12 January 2022|work=The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database: Name of the Week|url=https://etyfish.org/name-of-the-week2022/|url-status=live|access-date=23 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240523161758/https://etyfish.org/name-of-the-week2022/|archive-date=23 May 2024}}</ref>
<ref name="FishBase">{{FishBase genus|genus=Satanoperca|month=July|year=2019}}</ref>
<ref name="Kullander1988">{{cite journal|last1=Kullander|first1=Sven O.|last2=Ferreira|first2=Efrem Jorge Gondim|date=January 1988|title=A new ''Satanoperca'' species (Teleostei, Cichlidae) from the Amazon River basin in Brazil|journal=Cybium|volume=12|issue=4|pages=343–355|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/286387772|access-date=25 April 2024}}</ref>
<ref name="Kullander2012">{{cite journal | author=Kullander, S.O. | year=2012 | title=A taxonomic review of Satanoperca (Teleostei: Cichlidae) from French Guiana, South America, with description of a new species | journal=Cybium | volume=36 | issue=1 | pages=247–262 |url=https://sfi-cybium.fr/en/node/90|access-date=23 May 2024}}</ref>
<ref name="Ota2018">{{cite journal|last1=Ota|first1=Renata Rúbia|last2=Deprá|first2=Gabriel de Carvalho|last3=Kullander|first3=Sven O.|last4=Júnio da Graça|first4=Weferson|last5=Pavanelli|first5=Carla Simone|orig-date=February 2018|date=17 December 2021|title=Satanoperca curupira, a new cichlid species from the rio Madeira basin in Brazil (Teleostei: Cichlidae)|journal=Neotropical Ichthyology|volume=19|issue=4|page=e210116|doi=10.1590/1982-0224-2021-0116|issn=1982-0224|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323130025|access-date=23 May 2024|doi-access=free}}{{open access}}</ref>
<ref name="Sleen2017">{{cite book|editor1=van der Sleen, Peter|editor2=Albert, James S.|title=Field Guide to the Fishes of the Amazon, Orinoco, and Guianas|date=25 December 2018|series=Princeton Field Guides, 81|publisher=Princeton University Press|page=382|isbn=978-0691170749}}</ref>
<ref name="Willis2012">{{cite journal|last1=Willis|first1=Stuart C.|last2=López-Fernández|first2=Hernán|last3=Montaña|first3=Carmen G.|last4=Farias|first4=Izeni P.|last5=Ortí |first5=Guillermo|name-list-style=&|orig-date=18 November 2011|date=2 March 2012|title=Species-level phylogeny of 'Satan's perches' based on discordant gene trees (Teleostei: Cichlidae: ''Satanoperca'' Günther 1862)|journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution|volume=63|issue=3|pages=798–808|doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2012.02.018|pmid=22406409|bibcode=2012MolPE..63..798W|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/221692421|access-date=23 May 2024}}</ref> }}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q134894}}
Category:Geophagini Category:Cichlid fish of South America Category:Taxa named by Albert Günther Category:Cichlid genera