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Fig. 19. Cichla orinocensis, MNHN A.1042, ca. 375 mm SL; Brazil; holotype of Cichla argus. Photograph by E. Åhlander.
Fig. 20. Cichla cf. orinocensis, MBUCV-V 10287, 1, 82.3 mm SL; Venezuela: Bolívar, Rio Cuyuni, Raudal de Kinotovaca,
ca. 40 km south of El Dorado.
ing from the Musée de Lisbonne, and probably
represents part of the Brazilian fish collection
made by A. Ferreira 1783-1792. His collection,
originally kept in Lisboa, was confiscated by the
French army in 1807 and taken to Paris (Araújo,
1983).
The names C. orinocensis and C. argus were
published simultaneously, and C. orinocensis has
priority by action of the first reviser, Günther
(1862: 309), who listed both names in the synonymy
under Crenicichla orinocensis. We do not
designate a neotype of C. orinocensis here because
there is currently no nomenclatural problem associated
with the species.
Cichla orinocensis was identified as a Crenicichla
Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwaters, Vol. 17, No. 4
313
species by Günther (1862), probably inspired by
the elongate shape of the specimen illustrated
by Humboldt (1821). Later authors (e.g., Regan,
1906) synonymized C. orinocensis with C. ocellaris.
Machado-Allison (1971, 1973) provided the so far
most detailed descriptive information on C. orinocensis,
under the name C. ocellaris. Román (1981)
treated the general natural history of the species
with many illustrations, also as C. ocellaris. Ecological
aspects are covered by Winemiller (2001).
Machado-Allison (1971: 468, figs. 3-4) described
and figured the colour ontogeny of
C. orinocensis from juvenile to adult, corresponding
to the description given above. The largest
specimen listed in Machado-Allison’s table of