Redhump eartheater

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Species of fish

title: "Redhump eartheater" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["geophagus", "fish-of-south-america", "freshwater-fish-of-colombia", "magdalena-river", "fish-described-in-1922", "taxa-named-by-carl-h.-eigenmann", "taxa-named-by-samuel-frederick-hildebrand"] description: "Species of fish" topic_path: "general/geophagus" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redhump_eartheater" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Species of fish ::

| image = Geophagus steindachneri in Tropicarium-Oceanarium Budapest.jpg | image2 = Gs_female.jpg | image2_caption = male above, female below | status = | taxon = Geophagus steindachneri | authority = C. H. Eigenmann & Hildebrand, 1922 | synonyms =

  • Geophagus hondae Regan, 1912
  • Geophagus magdalena Brind, 1943

The redhump eartheater (Geophagus steindachneri) is a species of eartheater cichlid from freshwater habitats in northwestern South America.

Distribution

The redhump eartheater is native to river drainages in northern and western Colombia (Magdalena, Cauca and Sinú basins), and northwestern Venezuela (El Limón River). It lives in water that is slightly acidic to neutral (6.5 to 7.0 pH) and typically about 24 to. It is stenohaline, found only in mainland freshwater environments.

Etymology

The cichlid is named in honor of Austrian ichthyologist Franz Steindachner (1834–1919).

Food

Wild redhump eartheaters take substrate material into their mouths and sift out inedible bits of sand or gravel, while consuming detritus and small organisms.

The redhump eartheater is commonly available in the aquarium trade, and relatively easy to maintain. Adults should be kept in aquariums of at least 200 liters (50 gallons); juveniles in no less than 110 liters (30 gallons). This fish has a habit of taking substrate into its mouth and spitting it back out or sifting it through its gills. It is likely to uproot aquarium plants if they are not secured or well established. Redhump eartheater tends to be aggressive toward conspecifics, especially large males. Adult males of this species will not tolerate other males or females carrying a brood. Females can be kept in groups, but will become aggressive in smaller aquariums. Redhump eartheaters tend to resemble African cichlids, especially the mbuna of Lake Malawi, in their behavior, level of aggression, and breeding patterns. --

Reproduction

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Gs_displayingmale1.jpg" caption="Displaying male"] ::

Redhump eartheaters are immediate maternal mouthbrooders. These fish grow relatively quickly, and can be sexed as subadults. Sexual dimorphism is clear - males have a large, red nuptial hump on their heads and grow larger than the females. Mature males develop an iridescence on the scales on their sides and very large humps. Males will display to females by opening their mouths and flaring their gills. Nonreceptive females may be driven from the spawning area. Spawning takes place on a smooth rock or clean sand bed. The female lays one or two eggs, then the male fertilizes them. The female immediately takes the fertilized eggs into her mouth and proceeds to lay more eggs. This continues until spawning is completed. The female carries the eggs until they are free-swimming and have absorbed their yolk sacs, about 2–3 weeks. She eats little to no food during this period. Eventually, she releases them and allows them to search for food, taking them back into her mouth when she feels threatened. The brooding female often signals to her fry when danger is present, and shuts her fry out of her mouth when encouraging then to forage.

References

References

  1. ''[http://www.fishbase.org/summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=12372 Geophagus steindachneri]''. [[FishBase]]. Agustin, L., Kullander, S., & Torres, A. (2001-2008).
  2. (22 September 2018). "Order CICHLIFORMES: Family CICHLIDAE: Subfamily CICHLINAE (d-w)". Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

geophagusfish-of-south-americafreshwater-fish-of-colombiamagdalena-riverfish-described-in-1922taxa-named-by-carl-h.-eigenmanntaxa-named-by-samuel-frederick-hildebrand