Genus of fishes
Geophagus is a genus of cichlids that mainly live in South America as far south as Argentina and Uruguay, but a single species, "G. crassilabris" is from Panama. They are found in a wide range of freshwater habitats. They are part of a group popularly known as eartheaters and mostly feed by picking up mouthfuls of sediment to sift out food items such as invertebrates, plant material and detritus. The largest species reach up to in standard length. They are mostly kept in aquariums.
As an invasive species.
"Geophagus surinamensis" was an invasive species in Malaysia, recently found in Putrajaya, the populations are now controlled by giant snakeheads.
Taxonomy.
Some cichlids previously included in this genus have been reallocated to "Biotodoma", "Gymnogeophagus" or "Satanoperca". Even with these as separate genera, "Geophagus" is currently polyphyletic and in need of further taxonomic revision. There are three main groups:
Species.
There are currently 32 recognized species in this genus.
References.
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