| SOURCE FOR OCCURRENCE IN ECUADOR: References for the occurence of M. ornatus in Ecuador include Glodek (1978), Barriga (1991), |
| ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION: Regan, C.T. 1905. A revision of the fishes of the American cichlid genus Cichlosoma and of the allied genera. Annals and Magazine of Natural History (Series 7) v. 16 (nos 91-94):60-77, 225-243, 316-340, 433-445. |
| TYPE SPECIMENS: |
| TAXONOMIC STATUS: Valid (Eschmeyer and Fricke, 2012). |
| RANGE ECUADOR: Occurs in the northern drainages of western Ecuador (Eigenmann, 1922; Barriga, 1994) and possibly in the Guayas River basin (Glodek, 1978). Barriga (1994) reported it for the Santiago and Mataje Rivers. Eigenmann (1922) reported it from Durango and St. Javier. Glodek (1978) indicated that M. ornatus occurs sympatrically with its congener M. festae at the Rio Palenque Biological Reserve in the northern Guayas drainage (Los Rios province). |
| RANGE OUTSIDE OF ECUADOR: Patia River along the Pacific coast of southwestern Colombia (Eigenmann, 1922; Glodek, 1978). |
| COLLECTIONS IN ECUADOR: |
| MAXIMUM SIZE: 26 cm standard length (Fishbase, 2012). |
| DISTINGUISHING FEATURES: Mesoheros ornatus is a cichlid and can be distinguished from most other freshwater fishes in western Ecuador by its overall shape and the presence of strong, well-developed spines in its dorsal and anal fins. Cichlasoma differs from Andinoacara (formally Aequidens) in several respects but can be distinguished easily by differences in coloration. Cichlasoma lack the bright blue stripes and spots on the face and the mid-dorsal black blotch present in Andinoacara and have a series (often 5-7) of dark vertical stripes along the body that Andinoacara lack. Non-native Tilapia (genus Oreochromis) also differ substantially in coloration from Cichlasoma and are either orange or dark colored with pronounced vertical stripes along the caudal fin.
Glodek (1978) indicates that Mesoheros ornatus can be distinguished from M. festae in its the lateral line scale count, with M. ornatus having 30-32 scales and M. festae having 26-27 scales in the median series (Glodek, 1978). However, Eigenmann (1922) lists M. festae as having 30 scales in a median series. Fin counts for M. ornatus are as follows: Dorsal fin: XVI,11 to XVI, 12; Anal fin V,8 to V,9 (Glodek, 1978).
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| ECOLOGY: Like its congener, M. ornatus is known as the "vieja roja" in western Ecuador. It is a relatively large predatory fish. |
| ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE: Exploited commercially as a food fish. |
| CONSERVATION STATUS: Unknown although this species is exploited heavily as a food fish. Anecdotal evidence suggests that it may be declining in abundance. |
| LINK TO FISHBASE PAGE: Click here for link |
| SPECIES PROFILE CREATED BY: Windsor Aguirre |
| SPECIES PROFILE CONTRIBUTORS: NA |
