Overview
Geophagus: from the Greek geo, meaning ‘earth’, and phagos, meaning ‘ to eat’. Geophagus: from the Greek geo, meaning ‘earth’, and phagos, meaning ‘ to eat’. Proximus: from the Latin proximus, meaning ‘nearest, next’.
Taxonomy
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Actinopterygii
- Order
- Cypriniformes
- Family
- Cichlidae
- Genus
- Geophagus
- Species
- proximus
Habitat
Predominantly found in the lower reaches of rivers and has also been collected from floodplain lakes in várzearegions, plus some permanent black water lakes such as Lago Amanã near the city of Tefé, Brazil. They have been known to live in clear and black waterlakes and they tend to inhabit gently sloping marginal zones around shores or islands with substrates of sand, fine gravel, and mud. Depending on locality other habitat, there surrounding features can include scattered rocks, submerged tree roots, or branches.
Diet
These fish are substrate feeders, use sinking cichlid pellets as the staple diet. They will also relish treats of blood worms as well.
Behavior
The Suriname Eartheaters will breed with several females at the same time. Keep one male with several females, when spawning is complete the male will defend all of the spawning sites while the female mouth broods the eggs. If the male is kept with a single female, she may become aggressive when protecting her young.
Fishing
This is more of an aquarium fish and is not really targeted for fishing.
Conservation Status
Listed as Not Evaluated by IUCN.