With big cichlids once again gaining popularity in the UK hobby, Jeremy Gay looks at one unrivalled ‘king of the tankbusters’.
MANY CENTRAL AMERICAN cichlids live up to their common names and the large, predatory jaguar cichlid does exactly that. First described by the naturalist Gunther in 1867, Parachromis managuensis will have been previously known by native Hondurans, Nicaraguans, and Costa Ricans as a food fish. The type specimen was collected from Lake Managua in Nicaragua, (hence the specific epithet managuensis,) with Parachromis literally meaning ‘perhaps a perch’, with its spiky dorsal fin, large mouth, and sharp teeth. So many fish around the world are called perch.
But like so many other Central American cichlids, the jaguar cichlid’s scientific name has certainly done the taxonomic rounds too, being synonymised as Heros, Cichlasoma, Herichthys, and Nandopsis over the last 157 years, before being placed back into Parachromis by Kullander in 2003.
We know it as the jaguar cichlid, but in the Central American culinary world this fish is known as the Guapote Barcino, Spanish for the handsome ginger one; the colour reference serving as a way to differentiate it from other Guapotes, or handsome ones, from the same genus. The jaguar cichlid is a handsome fish indeed, males sporting a golden body with dark brown spots, a yellow face, and golden eye, while females are yellower still (especially when breeding, only with larger black blotches).
Both sexes are built for chasing, snatching at, and engulfing fish, shrimp, and insects, making them popular sport fish too, the males packing on size, large masculine jaws, and visible canines as they mature. In aquarium circles a large male ‘jag’ may be 30-38.5cm including fins, with females often staying much smaller at around 20cm, but in the natural waters they inhabit these are apex predators—often the biggest fish in the lake—and with wild males attaining a maximum length of 55-63cm they are also one of the largest cichlids in the world.
Slow starters
The jaguar cichlids featured in books, magazines, or the Internet represent all of the above—large, predatory cichlids that would appeal to oscar lovers. But your first encounter with juveniles in aquarium stores will probably be a let-down. Juvenile jags are a washed-out gold colour with a horizontal row of blotches and vertical bands; only when young do the markings serve to blend into their surroundings and enable them to avoid predation.
