Pike cichlid

Pike cichlids
	Crenicichla (Batrachops) semifasciata Crenicichla (Lacustria) punctata Hemeraia hemera Lugubria lugubris Saxatilia saxatilis Wallaciia regani Teleocichla cinderella Representative taxa from the clades of Crenicichlina (minus the type species of the type genus)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Cichliformes
Family:	Cichlidae
Tribe:	Geophagini
Subtribe:	Crenicaratina
Groups included
	Crenicichla; Hemeraia; Lugubria; Saxatilia; Wallaciia;
Cladistically included but traditionally excluded taxa
	Teleocichla;

Pike cichlids are South American cichlid fish of the subfamily Cichlinae, all possessing an elongated body which drew comparison to pikes (Esox). The two earliest genera which were erected by Johann Jakob Heckel were Batrachops and Crenicichla.^[1] All subsequent species of elongated, small-scaled cichlid from South America were all placed within the genus Crenicichla (which also absorbed the genera Batrachops and Boggiania),^[2]^[3] but they eventually were split out in a 2023 taxonomic revision. The same study also proposed the new subtribe Crenicichlina to encompass these genera of pike cichlids,^[3] though online authorities such as WoRMS and ECoF has not validated this classification system.^[2]^[4]

Crenicichlina is defined by a number of synapomorphies (distinguishing, unique traits), such as characters of the palatine, branchials, and basipterygium.^[3]

The following cladogram is based on a maximum likelihood phylogenetic tree from the 2023 taxonomic revision:^[3]

Chaetobranchus

Geophagini

	Crenicara

	Dicrossus

Mikrogeophagus

	Biotodoma

	Geophagus

Mazarunia

Satanoperca

	Taeniacara

	Apistogramma

	Acarichthys

	Biotoecus

Crenicichlina

	Wallaciia

	Teleocichla

	Hemeraia

	Saxatilia

Lugubria

Crenicichla

Crenicichla macrophthalma (type species)

	subgenus Batrachops

	subgenus Lacustria

References

^ Heckel JJ.; Johann Natterer’s neue Flussfische Brasilien’s nach den Beobachtungen und Mittheilungen des Entdeckers beschrieben (Erste Abtheilung, Die Labroiden). Ann Wiener Mus Naturgesch 1840;2:325–471
^ ^a ^b Bailly N (ed.). "Crenicichla Heckel, 1840". FishBase. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 2026-02-06.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Henrique Rosa Varella; Sven Kullander; Naercio Menezes; Hernán López-Fernández; Claudio Oliveira (June 2023). "Revision of the generic classification of pike cichlids using an integrative phylogenetic approach (Cichlidae: tribe Geophagini: subtribe Crenicichlina)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 198 (4): 982–1034. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad021.
^ "Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes Classification". California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 6 February 2026.

[1] Heckel JJ.; Johann Natterer’s neue Flussfische Brasilien’s nach den Beobachtungen und Mittheilungen des Entdeckers beschrieben (Erste Abtheilung, Die Labroiden). Ann Wiener Mus Naturgesch 1840;2:325–471

[WoRMS-2] Bailly N (ed.). "Crenicichla Heckel, 1840". FishBase. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 2026-02-06.

[Rev-3] Henrique Rosa Varella; Sven Kullander; Naercio Menezes; Hernán López-Fernández; Claudio Oliveira (June 2023). "Revision of the generic classification of pike cichlids using an integrative phylogenetic approach (Cichlidae: tribe Geophagini: subtribe Crenicichlina)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 198 (4): 982–1034. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad021.

[4] "Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes Classification". California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 6 February 2026.

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