Anableps dowii Gill, 1861

Open encyclopedia reference

Anableps dowii, the Pacific four-eyed fish or the cuatrojos, is a species of four-eyed fish native to the coastal waters on the Pacific side of southern Mexico to Nicaragua. This fish is gregarious and inhabits mangrove swamps, tidal mudflats, and other coastal brackish ecosystems. This species has female biased sexual dimorphism, with males growing to 22 cm (8.7 in) TL while females can grow up to 34 cm (13.4 in) TL. The name "four-eyed fish" comes from how the eyes of the fish are split into two lobes horizontally, each with its own pupil and vision. This allows the fish to see above and below the water at the same time, aiding in predator detection and prey location.

Wikipedia contributors, Anableps dowii; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T19:00:01.677520+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Anableps dowii Gill, 1861

Name authority

Gill, 1861

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Teleostei

Order

Cyprinodontiformes

Family

Anablepidae

Genus

Anableps

Extinction status

Not supplied by this source

Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: yes · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. gigaclassActinopterygii
8. superclassActinopteri
9. classTeleostei
10. orderCyprinodontiformes
11. familyAnablepidae Bonaparte, 1831
12. subfamilyAnablepinae Bonaparte, 1831
13. genusAnableps Scopoli, 1777
14. speciesAnableps dowii Gill, 1861

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Anableps. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 18 records assigned to Anablepidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. Gill, T. N. (1861). Description of a new species of the genus Anableps of Gronovius. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, v. 13: 3–6. Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:66GFM. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.