The native range of the genus includes the rivers and lakes of Central and South America including the Amazon regions of Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, and Guyana. This species has also undergone introduction into non-native habitats in areas such as Florida and Hawaii.

HABITS:

This species lives in freshwater streams and lakes of moderate temperatures. They cannot survive in temperatures lower than 15 degrees Celsius. Cichla ocellaris is mainly a piscivorous species eating almost any species of fish.

SPAWNING:

Not well documented. There are some reports of breeding trials without hormone treatment carried out at government stations in Brazil. This species is becoming increasingly common in introduced areas such as Florida. The main problem it encounters in new areas is its extreme sensitivity to cold waters. Cichla ocellaris cannot survive and successfully reproduce in waters lower than 15 degrees Celsius. It is believed that it will have troubles adapting to northern areas of Florida where the temperatures are slightly more variable.

GROWTH:

In their native habitat the Peacock Bass is said to reach sizes of up to 13.5 kg, while in their introduced habitats, such as Florida, they are much smaller averaging around 0.5-1.0 kg.

USES:

Cichla ocellaris is a very important food and game species in South America. It was introduced into Florida in 1984 by the Florida Game and Freshwater Commission. It was stocked primarily as a sport fish, but it was also hoped that Cichla ocellaris would help to control the size of other exotic cichlid species in the area.

CULTURE:

The characins and cichlids propagated in South America are herbivores or low-order carnivores, but some more or less piscivorous fish are also cultured, Cichla ocellaris among them. These fishes are stocked not only in reservoirs but also in tilapia ponds to control excess reproduction.

REFERENCES:

Bekesi, L.; Molnar, K. 1991. Calyptospora tucunarensis n.sp. (Apicomplexa: Sporozoea) from the liver of tucunare Cichla ocellaris in Brazil. Systematic Parasitology 18:127-132.

Petrere, M.,Jr. 1986. Amazon fisheries. 2. Variations in the relative abundance of tucunare (Cichla ocellaris, C. temensis ) based on catch and effort data of the trident fisheries. Amazoniana 10:1-13.

Shafland, P.L. 1993. An overview of Florida's introduced butterfly peacock bass (Cichla ocellaris) sportfishery. Natura-Caracas No. 96:26-29.

Vasquez, O.E.; Rogers, W.A. 1992. First report of larval Eustrongylides ignotus (Nematoda: Dioctophymatidae) in peacock bass in Gatun Lake, Republic of Panama. Journal of Aquatic and Animal Health 4:152.