Rocio gemmata Contreras-Balderas & Schmitter-Soto, 2007
Rocio gemmata
photo by Dubosc, J.

Family:  Cichlidae (Cichlids), subfamily: Cichlasomatinae
Max. size:  7 cm SL (male/unsexed)
Environment:  benthopelagic; freshwater
Distribution:  North America: apparently endemic to the eastern Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico.
Diagnosis:  Dorsal spines (total): 18-18; Dorsal soft rays (total): 9-10; Anal spines: 8-9; Anal soft rays: 7-8. This species is characterized by the following: spots on the sides are larger than scales and not clearly aligned (vs. smaller than scales and rather well-aligned); stripe from the snout to the eye is interrupted (vs. continuous); quadrate bone with a spine (vs. none); maxilla reaching both a vertical and a horizontal line from orbit (vs. just to the ventral rim); cheek-scale rows modally 7 (vs. 6 or fewer); interradial scales on dorsal fin arranged in a row (vs. distally in two rows); dorsal and anal fins without filaments (vs. bearing filaments); anal and medial gut-loops not adjacent, well separated by the stomach and the liver (vs. always adjacent); rostral end of maxilla is notched or at least concave (vs. convex, notch absent); caudal ocellus blue in life (vs. white) (Ref. 74403).
Biology: 
IUCN Red List Status: Near Threatened (NT); Date assessed: 05 February 2019 Ref. (130435)
Threat to humans:  harmless


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