Eartheater (Geophagus brachybranchus)

Type localit y is ‘above Blanche Marie Valen, Nickerie District, Suriname’ in the Nickerie river drainage, northwestern Suriname. It’s also known from the Courantyne (aka Corantijn) system which forms the border between western Suriname and Guyana for much of its course. Kullander and Nijssen (1989) and Kullander (2003) suggest it probably occurs further west into Guyana because specimens collected from the Ríos Demerera and Essequibo by Eigenmann in 1912, originally identified as G. surinamensis, actually appear to represent G. brachybranchus. López-Fernández and Taphorn (2004) reported that its range extends right across Guyana and into Venezuela via the Rio Cuyuní system. The largest officially-recorded wild specimen measured 138 mm but this species is known to reach 180 – 200 mm in captivity.

In Aquariums and Zoos: rare in Europe