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| NAS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species |
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Common Name: convict cichlid
Synonyms and Other Names: convict cichlid (zebra cichlid, zebra chanchito, punto rojo, punto naranja
Taxonomy: available through 
Identification: For distinguishing characteristics and figure see Page and Burr (1991). Color photographs were given in Bussing (1987), Konings (1989), and Conkel (1993).
Size: 12 cm.
Native Range:
Central America, including Pacific Slope drainages of Guatemala, from Río Suchiate to Río Grande de Taracoles in northwestern Costa Rica. Atlantic Slope drainages in Central America, including Honduras, from Río Aguan to Río Guarumo in Panama (Conkel 1993). Distribution maps in Bussing (1987) and in Conkel (1993).
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 Alaska |
Hawaii |
Caribbean |
Interactive maps: Continental US, Alaska, Hawaii, Caribbean
Nonindigenous Occurrences: A population occupied a borrow pit of the often dry Salt River, at the eastern edge of Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona, from 1969 through 1972, but apparently was eliminated by 1973 floods; a reproducing population found in Mesa, Maricopa County, during the summer of 1970, did not overwinter (Minckley 1973). Single specimens are not uncommon. Reproducing populations may still survive in canals of the Phoenix metropolitan area and also may be established in warmer areas of the southwestern part of the state (Minckley 1973; Lee et al. 1980 et seq.). The first record from Florida was an unconfirmed report of an established population in a rock pit in northwest Miami, Dade County (Rivas 1965); however, the site's location is not known, and there are no known voucher specimens. A population was discovered in Green Pond on the University of Florida campus in Gainesville, Alachua County, in 1997 (G.T. Bergman, personal communication). The population was eradicated in 2001 (Hill and Cichra 2005). However, another population exists near Hume Pond, also on the UF campus (L. Somma, personal communication). In Hawaii the species first was reported in an irrigation ditch and a reservoir near Haleiwa, on Oahu, in 1983 (Devick 1991b). It was established in Nuuanu #4 Reservoir and found in the lower reaches of several windward streams on Oahu (Devick 1991b). It recently was established in Opaek'a and Kalama streams (adjacent to the North Fork of the Wailua River), on Kauai, ca. 1990 (Devick 1991a). The only documented case in Idaho is an established population of an amelanic form in Barney Hot Spring and the upper end of Barney Creek in Little Lost River Valley, Custer County; introduction into the site first was reported in 1985, when a sample of 19 fish (15-92 mm SL) was taken on 7 September 1985 (Courtenay et al. 1987). A report produced by the Idaho Game and Fish (Fisheries Management Plan 1991-1995) listed this species as being confined to one or a few geothermal waters in the region known as Snake River drainage below Shoshone Falls, in the south central part of the state; however, that report may contain erroneous information. Numerous specimens were collected from an unnamed tributary to Big Branch Bayou in Lacombe, Louisiana, near a tropical fish farm in 2004 (K. Piller, pers. comm.). The species is established in several warm springs along the White and Moapa (Muddy) rivers in southeastern Nevada. The earliest records are from Rogers Spring, near the Overton arm of Lake Mead, Clark County, dating to March 1963 (Deacon et al. 1964; Courtenay and Deacon 1983; Vinyard 2001). There are three springs along the White River with reported established populations, all in Lincoln County: Ash Spring and its outflow near Alamo, since June 1964; Crystal Springs since the 1970s; and Hiko Spring since about 1984 (Hubbs and Deacon 1964; Courtenay and Hensley 1979a; Courtenay and Deacon 1982; Deacon and Williams 1984; Courtenay et al. 1985). One specimen was seined from the San Marcos River below the Spring Lake dam in Hays County, Texas, on 19 September 1989 (Whiteside and Berkhouse 1992). Several fish were taken from Kelly Warm Springs in Teton County, Wyoming, on 10 October 1991 (G. Baxter, personal communication), but the species is not known to be established (M. Stone, personal communication). This species was likely introduced into that site after the mid-1980s because it was not found when the site was sampled by Courtenay on 23 July 1984 (Courtenay et al. 1987). This species is also common with Grand Teton National Park (Tilmant 1999).
Means of Introduction: A population occupied a borrow pit of the often dry Salt River, at the eastern edge of Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona, from 1969 through 1972, but apparently was eliminated by 1973 floods; a reproducing population found in Mesa, Maricopa County, during the summer of 1970, did not overwinter (Minckley 1973). Single specimens are not uncommon. Reproducing populations may still survive in canals of the Phoenix metropolitan area and also may be established in warmer areas of the southwestern part of the state (Minckley 1973; Lee et al. 1980 et seq.). The first record from Florida was an unconfirmed report of an established population in a rock pit in northwest Miami, Dade County (Rivas 1965); however, the site's location is not known, and there are no known voucher specimens. A population was discovered in Green Pond on the University of Florida campus in Gainesville, Alachua County, in 1997 (G. T. Bergman, personal communication). It was still present on campus and had spread to other waterbodies by April 2002 (L. Somma, personal communication). In Hawaii the species first was reported in an irrigation ditch and a reservoir near Haleiwa, on Oahu, in 1983 (Devick 1991b). It was established in Nuuanu #4 Reservoir and found in the lower reaches of several windward streams on Oahu (Devick 1991b). It recently was established in Opaek'a and Kalama streams (adjacent to the North Fork of the Wailua River), on Kauai, ca. 1990 (Devick 1991a). The only documented case in Idaho is an established population of an amelanic form in Barney Hot Spring and the upper end of Barney Creek in Little Lost River Valley, Custer County; introduction into the site first was reported in 1985, when a sample of 19 fish (15-92 mm SL) was taken on 7 September 1985 (Courtenay et al. 1987). A report produced by the Idaho Game and Fish (Fisheries Management Plan 1991-1995) listed this species as being confined to one or a few geothermal waters in the region known as Snake River drainage below Shoshone Falls, in the south central part of the state; however, that report may contain erroneous information. Collections in Louisiana are the result of fish farm escapes. The species is established in several warm springs along the White and Moapa (Muddy) rivers in southeastern Nevada. The earliest records are from Rogers Spring, near the Overton arm of Lake Mead, Clark County, dating to March 1963 (Deacon et al. 1964; Courtenay and Deacon 1983). There are three springs along the White River with reported established populations, all in Lincoln County: Ash Spring and its outflow near Alamo, since June 1964; Crystal Springs since the 1970s; and Hiko Spring since about 1984 (Hubbs and Deacon 1964; Courtenay and Hensley 1979a; Courtenay and Deacon 1982; Deacon and Williams 1984; Courtenay et al. 1985). One specimen was seined from the San Marcos River below the Spring Lake dam in Hays County, Texas, on 19 September 1989 (Whiteside and Berkhouse 1992). Several fish were taken from Kelly Warm Springs in Teton County, Wyoming, on 10 October 1991 (G. Baxter, personal communication), but the species is not known to be established (M. Stone, personal communication). This species was likely introduced into that site after the mid-1980s because it was not found when the site was sampled by Courtenay on 23 July 1984 (Courtenay et al. 1987).
Status: Established or locally established in Hawaii, Idaho, and Nevada; possibly established in Arizona, but current status unknown (Courtenay and Hensley 1979a); apparently established locally in Florida and Louisiana; reported from Wyoming and Texas.
Impact of Introduction: Mostly unknown. According to Deacon et al. (1964), C. nigrofasciatum, in combination with other foreign fishes, apparently caused the decline and extermination of a population of the native speckled dace Rhinichthys osculus near the Overton arm of Lake Mead, Nevada. Along with other foreign species, it has been implicated as a threat to the survival of the endangered White River springfish Crenichthys baileyi and other native White River fish in southeastern Nevada (Deacon and Bradley 1972; Page and Burr 1991). Introductions, in combination with other human-induced changes, caused the disappearance of all native fishes from Hiko Spring, Nevada (Courtenay et al. 1985).
Remarks: Concern exists that this aggressive cichlid will compete with native sunfishes for spawning sites (Courtenay and Hensley 1979a). There was early concern that Nevada populations, if they were to become established in Lake Mead, might affect the sport fishery adversely (Deacon et al. 1964). An attempt in December 1963 to eliminate the Nevada population at Rogers Spring failed (Hubbs and Deacon 1964). Barney Creek in Idaho is a tributary of Summitt Creek; the Little Lost River Valley is an isolated, cold, high-altitude drainage whose water sinks into the sand or gravel of the Arco Desert (W. Horton, personal communication; also see Linder 1964). Voucher specimens: Florida (UF uncatalogued); Idaho (UMMZ 213373; FAU WRC-ID-2).
Bussing, W. A. 1987. Peces de las aguas continentales de Costa Rica. Editorial de la Universidad de Costa Rica, San Jose. 221 pp.
Conkel, D. 1993. Cichlids of North and Central America. Tropical Fish Hobbyist Publications, Inc., Neptune City, NJ.
Courtenay, W. R., Jr., and J. E. Deacon. 1982. Status of introduced fishes in certain spring systems in southern Nevada. Great Basin Naturalist 42(3):361-366.
Courtenay, W. R., Jr., and J. E. Deacon. 1983. Fish introductions in the American southwest: a case history of Rogers Spring, Nevada. Southwestern Naturalist 28:221-224.
Courtenay, W. R., Jr., and D. A. Hensley. 1979a. Survey of introduced non-native fishes. Phase I Report. Introduced exotic fishes in North America: status 1979. Report Submitted to National Fishery Research Laboratory, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Gainesville, FL.
Courtenay, W. R., Jr., J. E. Deacon, D. W. Sada, R. C. Allan, and G. L. Vinyard. 1985. Comparative status of fishes along the course of the pluvial White River, Nevada. Southwestern Naturalist 30:503-524.
Deacon, J. E., and W. G. Bradley. 1972. Ecological distribution of fishes of Moapa (Muddy) River in Clark County, Nevada. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 101(3):408-419.
Deacon, J. E., and J. E. Williams. 1984. Annotated list of the fishes of Nevada. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 97(1):103-118.
Deacon, J. E., C. Hubbs, and B. J. Zahuranec. 1964. Some effects of introduced fishes on the native fish fauna of southern Nevada. Copeia 1964(2):384-388.
Devick, W. S. 1991a. Disturbances and fluctuations in the Wahiawa Reservoir ecosystem. Project F-14-R-15, Job 4, Study I. Division of Aquatic Resources, Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources. 21 pp.
Devick, W. S. 1991b. Patterns of introductions of aquatic organisms to Hawaiian freshwater habitats. Pages 189-213 in new directions in research, management and conservation of Hawaiian freshwater stream ecosystems. Proceedings of the 1990 symposium on freshwater stream biology and fisheries management, Division of Aquatic Resources, Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources.
Hill, J. E. and C. E. Cichra. 2005. Eradication of a reproducing population of convict cichlids, Cichlasoma nigrofasciatum (Cichlidae), in north-central Florida. Florida Scientist 68: 65-74.
Horton, W. - Staff Biologist, Idaho Fish & Game, Boise, ID.
Hubbs, C., and J. E. Deacon. 1964. Additional introductions of tropical fishes into southern Nevada. Southwest Naturalist 9:249-251.
Idaho Fish and Game. 1990. Fisheries Management Plan 1991-1995. Appendix I ? A list of Idaho fishes and their distribution by drainage. Idaho Fish and Game.
Konings, A. 1989. Cichlids from Central America. Tropical Fish Hobbyist Publications, Inc., Neptune City, NJ.
Linder, A. D. 1964. The guppy, Lebistes reticulatus (Peters), from a hot spring in Idaho. Copeia 1964(4):708-709.
Minckley, W. L. 1973. Fishes of Arizona. Arizona Fish and Game Department. Sims Printing Company, Inc., Phoenix, AZ.
Page, L. M., and B. M. Burr. 1991. A field guide to freshwater fishes of North America north of Mexico. The Peterson Field Guide Series, volume 42. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, MA.
Piller, K. - Southeastern Louisiana University.
Rivas, L. R. 1965. Florida fresh water fishes and conservation. Quarterly Journal of the Florida Academy of Science 28(3):255-258.
Stone, M. - Wyoming Game & Fish, Cheyenne, WY.
Tilmant, J.T. 1999. Management of nonindigenous aquatic fish in the U.S. National Park System. National Park Service. 50 pp.
Whiteside, B. G., and C. Berkhouse. 1992. Some new collection locations for six fish species. Texas Journal of Science 44(4):494.
Other Resources:
Gulf of Mexico Program
FishBase Fact Sheet
Author: Leo Nico and Pam Fuller
Revision Date: 4/11/2006 Citation for this information:
Leo Nico and Pam Fuller. 2009. Cichlasoma nigrofasciatum. USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database, Gainesville, FL.
<http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/FactSheet.asp?speciesID=447> Revision Date: 4/11/2006
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