Cichla temensis Humboldt, 1821

Open encyclopedia reference

Cichla temensis, the speckled peacock bass, painted pavon, royal pavon, speckled pavon, three-barred peacock bass, or striped tucunaré, is a very large South American cichlid. Reaching nearly 1 m (3.3 ft) in length, it is the largest cichlid of the Americas, and one of the largest extant cichlids in the world. It is an important predator in its native waterways, as well as a prized food fish and game fish, which has led to a number of attempted introductions outside of its native range.

Wikipedia contributors, Cichla temensis; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T19:21:00.518253+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Cichla temensis Humboldt, 1821

Name authority

Humboldt, 1821

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Teleostei

Order

Cichliformes

Family

Cichlidae

Genus

Cichla

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.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. gigaclassActinopterygii
8. superclassActinopteri
9. classTeleostei
10. orderCichliformes
11. familyCichlidae Bonaparte, 1835
12. subfamilyCichlinae Bonaparte, 1835
13. genusCichla Bloch & Schneider, 1801
14. speciesCichla temensis Humboldt, 1821

Close classified relatives

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

Browse 1,355 records assigned to Cichlidae.

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. Humboldt, A. von; Valenciennes, A. (1821). Recherches sur les poissons fluviatiles de l’Amérique Équinoxiale. In: Humboldt, A. von & Bonpland, A. (Eds), Recueil d’Observations de Zoologie et d’Anatomie Comparée: Faites Dans L’océan Atlantique, Dans L’intérieur Du Nouveau Continent et Dans La Mer Du Sud Pendant Les Années 1799, 1800, 1801, 1802 et 1803, 2 (Title page 1833): 145–216, pls 45–52. 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:V7R3. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.