The Keyhole cichlid (Cleithracara maronii, formerly Aequidens maronii) is a well-known aquarium fish that has only rarely been imported to Europe as a wild catch since its first import in 1936. The demand is covered by captive breeding. Although the species has no striking colors – the very varied pattern consists of brown, grey, beige and black tones – it is very popular because it only grows to around 10 cm long, is extremely peaceful, hardly burrows and is gentle on the plants. All in all, a perfect aquarium cichlid.
For the first time we can now offer captive-bred specimens of a local variant of Cleithracara maronii, which was found during a private collecting trip to French Guiana near Kourou (the spaceport). C. maronii is considered an endemic of the Maroni. This river is the border between Suriname and French Guiana and runs about 170 km west of Kourou. The Kourou variant is really spectacularly beautiful with its occasionally (!) red back and blue gill covers! Could it be a separate species after all? Who knows…
For our customers: the animals have code 607104 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply the wholesale trade.
Text: Frank Schäfer, photos: Henrik Weitkamp
