Amazon Basin
The Amazon Basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries that drains an area of about 6,915,000 square kilometres (2,670,000 sq mi), or roughly 40 percent of South America. The basin is located in the countries of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Venezuela. The Amazon rain forest is the largest in the world, covering about 8,235,430 km2 (3,179,720 sq mi) with dense tropical forest.
Cichlinae is a subfamily of South American fishes in the cichlid family. They are predatory and relatively elongated in shape. Of the three genera in the subfamily, some species of Cichla reach almost 1 metre (3.3 ft) in length, making them by far the largest cichlids of the Americas, and among the largest cichlids anywhere. In contrast, Teleocichla are among the smallest cichlids of the Americas, and most species only reach around 6 centimetres (2.4 in) in length.
Amazon River Basin Map
In this section we will detail South American Cichlids that are exclusively from the Amazon Basin along with specific Cichlids that belong to specific tributaries.
Please bear in mind that even though a Cichlid might be from the Amazon Basin; it’s specific tributary will most probably have vast differences in the water chemistry and biotope. Therefore it is very important to ensure that you read about the specific species that you intend on keeping and that you recreate this for the specimen(s) you intend on keeping.
