Jaguar Cichlid (Parachromis managuensis) 4cm

Jaguar Cichlids are found on the Atlantic slope of Central America from the Ulua River in Honduras to the Matina River in Costa Rica. Unlike many aquarium fish the wild Jaguar Cichlid becomes large enough to warrant human consumption and are used for food in their native lands. They are also considered pests in some localities. Another common name of these fish is the Managuense Cichlid. They like turbid waters with muddy bottoms and are found in warm, low oxygenated water in springs, ponds and lakes. They are highly predatorial and feed on small fish and larger invertebrates.

Although beautiful no matter what stage of their life they are currently in, Jaguar Cichlids do go through significant patterning changes over the course of their lives. When young, both the male and female Jaguar will present several dark bars extending from the top of the back and abruptly terminating around the lateral line (or roughly midway between the top and bottom of the body). They can have 2 dark bars just behind their eye; one that is horizontal and broken extending to the first vertical bar on the body, and the other running diagonally down to the gill cover. Mature, full grown males lose these bars and develop a ‘jaguar’ patterning evenly distributed over their body and fins. In contrast, the adult female may or may not maintain these bars while also forming a line of several large black dots across the body. The background color of this cichlid is slivery mixed with a light blue-green to light purple hue. There is some light tan-yellow to burgundy-red on the head. Very clean water will bring out their colours and patterning the best.

The Jaguar Cichlid is a carnivore, a predator that feeds on other smaller fish and large invertebrates in the wild. In the aquarium they will eagerly accept large live foods such as goldfish and other small fishes, crickets and other insects, earthworms, and tadpoles.

Though various types of live fish are their main food they can also be fed large chunk foods such as cut up fish and crayfish, and they may also accept large pieces of freeze dried and dry foods. They should be fed once a day, and some experts now suggest that fasting your fish for one day once a week can be beneficial. This strategy is meant to keep the water quality higher over a longer period of time. All fish benefit from vitamins and supplements added to their foods.

Note: it is not recommended that you not feed your cichlids warm blooded animal meats, such as beef heart or poultry, as these foods contain high amounts of fats and proteins not normally found in a cichlid’s natural diet. While it is acceptable to feed these types of foods every once in a while (mabye once a week), you should be careful to not overfeed them as they can cause cichlids to develop damaging digestive system blockages.

The Jaguar Cichlid is not a community fish. This fish is predatory, territorial, and aggressive and becomes even more aggressive when spawning. It needs to be kept with other large Central and South American cichlids, preferably ones larger than your Jaguar. If breeding them do not house with plecostomus as they will eat the Jaguar fry at night. Once the Jaguar pair is ready to spawn, no other fish should be left in the tank.

Jaguar Cichlids can be kept singly or in pairs. They are aggressive towards those of the same species and if they are not raised as a pair it can be risky to introduce a female into a tank with a male, especially if the male is the larger of the two. As with all larger cichlids, room is of the utmost importance in keeping aggression low.

• Species – Parachromis managuensis
• Common Name – Jaguar Cichlid
• Origin – South America; western Ecuador and central Peru.
• Diet – Carnivore
• PH Range – 7 – 8.7
• Temperature – Tropical 24–28°c
• Breed Type – Egg layer
• Current Size – approximately 5cm (Grows to approximately Up to 40cm)
• Sex – Un-sexed