Cichlid Pike

The local name for this fish is the Jacunda; it is sometimes referred to as the Sun Fish and belongs to the family Crenicichla a large family of fish popular with aquarium addicts. To confuse matters a little further, the aquarist circles often also call the various species the peacock bass, pike cichlids.  Most members of this family are small fish which are of no significance for the fly fisherman as they are too small, but they do make attractive additions for aquariums. There are over eighty members of this family many of them not yet described.

 
The species we encounter regularly on the Agua Boa river does not appear to have been fully investigated scientifically as yet, for it does not appear in any of photographic lists I have researched or in any of the aquarist books, devoted to cichlids, in my library. 
In fishing literature and on web sites it remains simply, Crenicichla sp. The nearest resemblance I have found to this fish is perhaps a species C. marmorata but I have to admit it is not exactly the same; the markings are somewhat different.

The Jacunda can grow to over twenty inches and perhaps even more.
Many species in this family display the ocelli common to many other fish in the Amazon waters, on the Jacunda this eye spot is a sunburst of colour on its flanks close to the gill cover( hence the name sunfish) and not on the tail fin as in other species. They are camouflaged with dark mottled barring running the length of the flanks and on to the root of the caudal fin. The dorsal fin extends from the head to the tail and is also marked with small dark spots.

 
Like most of the cichlids they are highly predacious, feeding mainly on small fish, they have large mouths and plenty of teeth to be able do this but they do not attack larger fish, fish that they cannot get into their mouths, their eyes are not bigger than their bellies.

 
They are usually found swimming in pairs in the snag infested margins of rivers and lakes, and always in places where the sunken structures affords plenty of protection. Most of the time we encounter these feisty fish whilst fishing for larger peacocks so we tend to be  little unfair to them as we generally use  8-10 weight rods for the big peacocks, this I think you will agree is a bit like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

Any Jacunda we catch, are in fact caught by accident, but even using such heavy gear they fight well. But if one was to try for these fish using 4-6 weight rods and small streamers then one would really appreciate what excellent fighters these fish are, on this lighter tackle they would be equal to any trout, believe me.