Yellowjacket Cichlid

About

The monarch cichlid (Parachromis friedrichsthalii) is a large, predatory fish from the Atlantic slope drainages of Central America, with a natural range stretching from Mexico's Usumacinta River system through Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras. In the wild it gravitates toward slower-moving stretches of rivers and lakes, where it makes its living hunting other fish. A behavior it carries straight into captivity. It's also one of the relatively few freshwater cichlids that tolerates brackish conditions, which speaks to its adaptability. In the aquarium this species goes by another common name, yellowjacket cichlid, likely a nod to its patterning, and it can grow into a genuinely impressive animal reaching close to a foot in length under good conditions. That size and its predatory nature mean tank mates need to be chosen carefully. Anything small enough to eat probably will be eaten. This is an intermediate-level species in the sense that it's not fragile or particularly demanding about water chemistry, but it does require a keeper who understands large aggressive cichlid husbandry and can commit the space and filtration that goes with it. It has also been used in behavioral research, which hints at the intelligence and personality these fish tend to display.