Open Access PDF - Sven Kullander

as tubed scales, may thus be influenced by misalignment
or small size. The smallest specimens
recorded with a continuous lateral line are 45.5
(C. temensis), 50.0 (C. ocellaris), and 62.1 mm SL
(C. jariina).
The total number of dorsal fin spines and rays
(Table 6) is modally 32 in all species except
C. jariina with 31. All species have modal count
XV.17 except C. jariina (XV.16), C. vazzoleri (XV.16),
and C. nigromaculata (XVI.16). Also C. pinima and
C. thyrorus have a high frequency of XV.16. The
frequency distribution of anal fin rays (Table 7)
shows little variation, with 11 rays modal for the
genus and all species. The pectoral fin count
(Table 8) varies between 14 and 15, with occasional
13 or 16. Higher numbers occur principally
in the more elongate species, viz. C. pinima,
C. vazzoleri, C. temensis, and C. intermedia, but also
in C. jariina.
Vertebral counts (Table 9) separate species
into two groups, those with modally 36 vertebrae
(18+18 or 19+17), and those with 35 (almost exclusively
18+17), and C. jariina exceptional with
34 vertebrae.
Gill rakers (Table 10) were counted as distinguishable
units, and since the anteriormost gill
rakers become flat and contiguous in large specimens,
the variation in counts to some extent reflects
the length of the specimens in the sample.
Our only conclusion is that gill-raker counts are
generally between 13 and 15, with juveniles having
up to 20. The higher numbers in C. temensis
may reflect a later transformation as well as a
higher average.
Morphometric information is available from
304 specimens 29.3-414 mm SL (Tables 12-26). In
a principal component analysis of morphometric
distance data (Fig. 3, Table 11), there are only
traces of allometry, except in the orbital diameter,
and shearing factor 2 did not alter the scatter.
Species with complete or abbreviated juvenile
lateral band tend to cluster apart on factor 2, but
show considerable overlap. Variation mainly
refers to body depth, which tends to be less in
several species with complete juvenile lateral band
(particularly C. intermedia, C. jariina, C. pinima,
C. temensis, and C. vazzoleri) compared to species
with abbreviated juvenile band (C. kelberi, C. monoculus,
C. ocellaris, C. orinocensis, C. pleiozona, and
probably C. nigromaculata), and caudal peduncle
length, which tends to be correspondingly longer.
Cichla piquiti and C. thyrorus cluster in the
midrange, and C. mirianae and C. melaniae span
Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwaters, Vol. 17, No. 4
387
both major clusters. In comparing similar species,
there are no trenchant morphometric differences.
Proportional measurements for each species are
summarized in Tables 12-26. Whereas some species
of there is variation between extremes the
overlap prevents use of proportional characters
to identify specimens to species. Figure 4 illustrates
the gradual variation in body depth expressed
as per cent of SL, with species with abbreviated
juvenile lateral band having body
depths up to 31.5-34.6 % SL, the more deep-bodied
species of species with complete lateral band
up to 30.7-32.8 % SL, and the slender species
(particularly C. intermedia, C. jariina, C. pinima,
C. temensis, and C. vazzoleri) maximum body
depths 27.3-30.7 % SL, with C. temensis at the
extreme with a variation 21.3-27.3 % SL (Tables
12-26). A comparison including only large specimens
(> 199 mm SL; graph not shown) produces
the same general graphic pattern, but with less
confidence and excluding C. intermedia of which
no large specimens were available.
In the morphologically diverse South American
cichlid genus Crenicichla body depth varies
from 12.5 % SL in small, elongate species, to 32.4 %
(N = 590) (pers. obs.). In genera representing a
“normal” South American cichlid body plan, and
with very little interspecific differences, the
variation is 37-45 % of SL (N = 475) in Aequidens,
and 34-45 % SL (N = 322) in Satanoperca (pers. obs.).
The magnitude of variation in Cichla is thus comparable
with Aequidens and Satanoperca albeit
values are contained within the upper range of
Crenicichla.
Juvenile colour pattern. Comparatively little is
known about larval and juvenile cichlid colour
pattern ontogeny, although it is potentially phylogenetically
informative. Cichla and Crenicichla
are the only genera of South American cichlids
with a juvenile colour pattern including a horizontal
midlateral stripe (Figs. 37, 49, 50-51, 55, 60,
64-66, 72, 74, 76-77, 81-85, 88, 90-91), and some
species of Cichla are unique in the possession of
an abbreviated lateral band extending only between
the posterior lateral blotch and the caudal
fin base (Figs. 5, 10-13, 24, 28-30).
Species with a complete lateral band include
C. intermedia, C. jariina, C. melaniae, C. mirianae,
C. pinima, C. piquiti, C. temensis, C. thyrorus, and
C. vazzoleri. In these species, the lateral band remains
to at least 100-150 mm SL, in C. mirianae
and C. intermedia it remains as an irregular stripe