Mesonauta festivus
Species of fish
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mesonauta festivus, the flag cichlid, is a species of cichlid native to the Paraná, Paraguay, Madre de Dios, Guaporé, Mamoré, Jamari and Tapajós river basins in Brazil, Peru, Paraguay and Bolivia.[1] It can reach a standard length of 12.1 cm (4.8 in) and is sometimes kept in aquariums.[1]
| Mesonauta festivus | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Division: | Teleostei |
| Order: | Cichliformes |
| Family: | Cichlidae |
| Genus: | Mesonauta |
| Species: | M. festivus |
| Binomial name | |
| Mesonauta festivus (Heckel, 1840) | |
It was generally recognized as the only valid species in the genus Mesonauta until 1991 when a taxonomic review found that five species should be recognized (a sixth was described in 1998).[2][3] As a consequence aquarium specimens have generally been labelled M. festivus, but this species is seen far less often than some of its relatives, especially M. guyanae, M. insignis and M. mirificus.[4] The other species in the genus have a more northernly range than M. festivus.[2]