Amphilophus chancho Stauffer, McCrary & Black, 2008
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Amphilophus chancho is a large cichlid fish endemic to Lake Apoyo in Nicaragua.
The six Amphilophus species found in Lake Apoyo show morphological differences.
Multiple species of this group have been identified and verified by genomic and mitochondrial DNA evidence in the volcanic crater lake Apoyo and another Nicaraguan crater lake, Xiloá. The genetic evidence from Apoyo supports a hypothesis that the six known species of the lake evolved via sympatric speciation. A few to perhaps several dozen species fitting the biological species concept are considered to exist among what has historically been called A. citrinellus, the great majority of which have not been described to date. The nine most recently described members of this species complex are considered endemic to their respective small, volcanic crater lakes.
Wikipedia contributors, Amphilophus chancho; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T18:59:45.718329+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Amphilophus chancho Stauffer, McCrary & Black, 2008
- Name authority
- Stauffer, McCrary & Black, 2008
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Cichliformes
- Family
- Cichlidae
- Genus
- Amphilophus
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: no · 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.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderCichliformes
- familyCichlidae Bonaparte, 1835
- subfamilyCichlinae Bonaparte, 1835
- genusAmphilophus Agassiz, 1859
- speciesAmphilophus chancho Stauffer, McCrary & Black, 2008
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Amphilophus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Amphilophus globosus Geiger, McCrary & Stauffer, 2010 | CichlidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Amphilophus labiatus (Günther, 1864) | CichlidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Amphilophus margaritifer (Günther, 1862) | CichlidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Amphilophus supercilius Geiger, McCrary & Stauffer, 2010 | CichlidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Amphilophus xiloaensis Stauffer & McKaye, 2002 | CichlidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Amphilophus sagittae Stauffer & McKaye, 2002 | CichlidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
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.
- Stauffer, J. R., McCrary, J. K., & Black, K. E. (2008). Three new species of cichlid fishes (Teleostei: Cichlidae) from Lake Apoyo, Nicaragua. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, 121. https://doi.org/10.2988/06-37.1 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:D3GR. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.