Freshwater cichlids Info is dedicated to providing the best information when it comes to keeping freshwater cichlids.  The website contains articles, species profiles, calculators and more to help you out along your journey into keeping cichlids.  While we area new site, we invite you to take part in the discussions here on freshwater cichlids and watch us grow into the best cichlid information site on the internet.

So what is a Cichlid?

Cichlids (pronounced /’siklid/) are fish from the family Cichlidae in the order Perciformes. The family Cichlidae, a major family of perciform fish, is both large and diverse. There are more than 1300 scientifically described species, making it one of the largest vertebrate families. Many new species are discovered annually. The actual number of species is therefore unclear, with estimates varying between 1300 and 3000 species.  Cichlids span a wide range of body sizes, from species as small as 1″ in length to much larger species approaching 3′ in length. As a group, cichlids exhibit a similarly wide diversity of body shapes, ranging from strongly laterally compressed species to species that are cylindrical and highly elongate. Most cichlids tend to be of medium size, ovate in shape and slightly laterally compressed, and generally very similar to the North American sunfishes in terms of morphology, behaviour, and ecology.

Many cichlids are very important food fishes, while others are valued game fish. Many species, including the angelfish, oscars, and discus, are also highly valued in the aquarium trade.  Cichlids are also the family of vertebrates with the largest number of endangered species, with most found in the haplochromine group.  Cichlids are well known for having evolved rapidly into a large number of closely related but morphologically diverse species within large lakes, particularly Lake Tanganyika, Lake Victoria, and Lake Malawi.  The diversity of cichlids in the African Great Lakes is extremely important for the study of speciation in evolution.  Many cichlids that have been accidentally or deliberately released into freshwaters outside of their natural range have become nuisance species, for example tilapia found in the southern United States.