Species: Vieja maculicauda, Spotted Cichlid

Vieja maculicauda (Regan, 1905)

Spotted Cichlid

Body oval, deep; large males with a hump over eye; 1 pair of nostrils; mouth short, slightly oblique, jaws about equal; top jaw highly protrusible; jaw teeth conical or cylindrical, outer series on top jaw larger at front; gill rakers 7-15; dorsal fin XV-XVIII, 10-14, no notch after spines; anal fin V-VI, 8-11; pectoral fin not reaching to above anal fin origin; tail base short to medium; bases of soft dorsal and anal fins scaled; lateral line in 2 straight overlapping sections.

Pale grey brown to grey; iris pale; lower cheek and throat reddish; an irregular black bar or blotch on belly and lower side; a large black blotch on tail base; dorsal and anal fins pale grey with rows of small black spots along fin rays; end of dorsal and outer half of tail fin red in breeding male.

Reaches 30 cm.

In calm freshwater and brackish water.

Depth: 0 -10 m.

Belize to Panama; has passed through the Panama Canal to the lower locks on the Pacific coast..