Cichlidae

Butterfly peacock bass

Cichla ocellaris

A schooling hunter over rapid rocks

• Black
• Green
• Orange
• Yellow
• Tropical
• Regional distribution
• Freshwater fish
• Africa
• Compressed
• Large
• Tropical fish

Exhibiting explosive predatory vigor and regal tropical coloration, the butterfly peacock bass is a formidable freshwater cichlid native to the warm river basins of northern South America. Its elongated, robust body displays an iridescent golden-olive or chartreuse hue crossed by three broad, vertical dark bars that gradually soften into shadowy blotches with maturity. Its most celebrated morphological hallmark is a large, jet-black ocellus or eye-spot circled by a luminous golden-yellow halo situated on the upper base of the caudal fin, a decoy mechanism evolving to deflect predatory lunges away from its head. Mature breeding males develop an impressive cranial fatty nuchal hump alongside vivid fiery orange-red pelvic and anal fins. Indigenous to the Marowijne, Suriname, and Essequibo river drainages in the Guianas and northern Brazil, it thrives in warm, sunlit oxbows, lagoons, and calm river channels down to five meters depth. A visual apex predator, it hunts during daylight hours with ferocious burst speed, decimating schools of smaller characins and tilapias. Dedicated pairs construct shallow gravel nests and defend their schooling fry for weeks. Maximum total length reaches seventy-five centimetres.

Sources: Florida FWC — Butterfly Peacock Bass, Cichla ocellaris