Eartheater Cichlid

The eartheater cichlid is a South American freshwater fish named for the way it scoops up mouthfuls of the bottom and sifts them for food.

It lives in schools over mud and sand bottoms, among rubble and tree roots along shores and slopes in the Amazon River basin of Brazil, favouring clear and blackwater over turbid white water.

It has also been introduced to Singapore, where it has settled in inland reservoirs and slow streams. It is considered invasive there, although nobody yet knows what effect it is having on its new home.

After taking a mouthful of the bottom it sorts out anything edible and pushes the rest back out through the mouth and gill openings, sifting sand as most Geophagus species do. Invertebrates, plant matter and seeds all feature in its diet. Look for thread-like extensions on the fins, in keeping with its other name, Threadfin Eartheater.

Parents protect their young by brooding the eggs in their mouths.