Teleostei (teleosts) >
Cichliformes (Cichlids, convict blennies) >
Cichlidae (Cichlids) > Geophaginae
Etymology: Satanoperca: Taken from the prince of darkness. Hube liked to name cave fishes with diabolic names based on the idea of hell being underground + Greek, perke = perch (Ref. 45335).
Eponymy: Named after the devil, and referring in the case of the blindcat to the species’ underground habitat. Günther’s use of a name meaning ‘Satan perch’ for the cichlids was probably inspired by Heckel (q.v.) having named a species as ‘Geophagus daemon’. (Ref. 128868), visit book page.
More on author: Heckel.
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Freshwater; benthopelagic; pH range: 6.0 - ? ; dH range: 5 - 10. Tropical; 27°C - 30°C (Ref. 2060)
South America: Amazon River basin, in the upper Negro River in Brazil and Venezuela; Orinoco River basin in Colombia and Venezuela.
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 17.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 36377)
Max. length 30 cm TL (Ref. 2060).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Deposits eggs in a pit and covers them with grosser substrate. The Young find the way out by themselves.
Kullander, S.O., 2003. Cichlidae (Cichlids). p. 605-654. In R.E. Reis, S.O. Kullander and C.J. Ferraris, Jr. (eds.) Checklist of the Freshwater Fishes of South and Central America. Porto Alegre: EDIPUCRS, Brasil. (Ref. 36377)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-2)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: commercial; aquarium: commercial
Tools
Special reports
Download XML
Internet sources
Estimates based on models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 0.5039 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.02512 (0.01198 - 0.05266), b=2.99 (2.81 - 3.17), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 3.1 ±0.4 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Resilience (Ref.
120179): High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Low vulnerability (11 of 100).