Crenicara punctulata

Crenicara punctulata is a small freshwater cichlid fish of tropical South America. It lives in forest creeks and along sandy river shores, often near fallen leaves or among plants, in tributaries of the Amazon River basin in Ecuador, Peru, Colombia and Brazil, in the upper Mamoré River of Bolivia, in the Essequibo River drainage of Guyana and in the Amapá Grande River of Brazil. It reaches about 12 centimetres in total length and is found in warm, soft, slightly acidic water. Its life cycle is unusual: the young are all females, and at about eight months of age one female changes into the dominant male. The female attaches about 200 eggs to plants or stones and tends the clutch. The species was described by Günther and redescribed from Peruvian material by Sven Kullander in 1986. It is assessed as Least Concern by the IUCN and is traded commercially as an aquarium fish.