Editing Cichlid (section)

=== Internal taxonomy ===
The following consensus taxonomy is based on the [[Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes|Catalog of Fishes]] (2025)<ref name=":13">{{Cite web |last=Fricke |first=R. |last2=Eschmeyer |first2=W. N. |last3=Van der Laan |first3=R. |date=2025 |title=ESCHMEYER'S CATALOG OF FISHES: CLASSIFICATION |url=https://www.calacademy.org/eschmeyers-catalog-of-fishes-classification |access-date=2025-02-10 |website=California Academy of Sciences |language=en}}</ref>

* Family '''Cichlidae''' <small>[[Charles Lucien Bonaparte|Bonaparte]], 1835</small>
** Subfamily [[Etroplinae]] <small>Kullander</small><small>, 1998</small> (Indian and Madagascan cichlids)
** Subfamily [[Ptychochrominae]] <small>Sparks</small><small>, 2004</small> (Malagasy cichlids)
** Subfamily [[Pseudocrenilabrinae]] <small>[[Henry Weed Fowler|Fowler]]</small><small>, 1934</small> (African cichlids)
** Subfamily [[Cichlinae]] <small>Bonaparte</small><small>, 1835</small> (American cichlids)

In the past, cichlid taxonomy has varied depending on the author. [[Sven O. Kullander|Kullander]] (1998) recognized eight [[subfamily|subfamilies]] of cichlids: the [[Astronotinae]], [[Cichlasomatinae]], [[Cichlinae]], [[Etroplinae]], [[Geophaginae]], [[Heterochromidinae]], [[Pseudocrenilabrinae]], and [[Retroculinae]].<ref name="Kullander">{{cite book|last=Kullander|first=S.O.|year=1998| chapter=A phylogeny and classification of the South American Cichlidae (Teleostei: Perciformes)|pages = 461–498 |editor = L.R. Malabarba |editor2=R.E. Reis |editor3=R.P. Vari |editor4=Z.M. Lucena |editor5=C.A.S. Lucena | title=Phylogeny and classification of neotropical fishes| location= Porto Alegre |publisher = EDIPUCRS | isbn = 978-85-7430-035-1 }}</ref> A ninth subfamily, the [[Ptychochrominae]], was later recognized by Sparks and Smith.<ref name="SparksSmith">{{cite journal |author1=Sparks, J.S.  |author2=Smith, W.L. | year = 2004 | title = Phylogeny and biogeography of cichlid fishes (Teleostei: Perciformes: Cichlidae) | journal = Cladistics | volume = 20 | pages = 501–517 | doi = 10.1111/j.1096-0031.2004.00038.x | issue = 6|pmid=34892958 |citeseerx=10.1.1.595.2118 |s2cid=36086310 }}</ref> Cichlid taxonomy is still debated, and classification of [[genera]] cannot yet be definitively given. A comprehensive system of assigning [[species]] to [[monophyly|monophyletic]] genera is still lacking, and there is not complete agreement on what genera should be recognized in this family.<ref name="Nelson">{{cite book | title = Fishes of the World | last = Nelson | first = Joseph S. | publisher = John Wiley & Sons, Inc. | year = 2006 | isbn = 978-0-471-25031-9}}</ref>

As an example of the classification problems, Kullander<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www2.nrm.se/ve/pisces/acara/cichphyl.shtml |title=Phylogeny of major groups of cichlids |access-date=10 June 2007 |archive-date=18 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118213155/http://www2.nrm.se/ve/pisces/acara/cichphyl.shtml |url-status=dead }}</ref> placed the African genus ''[[Heterochromis]]'' [[phylogenetic]]ally within [[Neotropical]] cichlids, although later papers{{citation needed|date=December 2019}} concluded otherwise. Other problems center upon the identity of the putative common ancestor for the Lake Victoria superflock (many closely related species sharing a single habitat), and the ancestral lineages of Lake Tanganyikan cichlids.{{citation needed|date=December 2019}}
[[File:Aequidens pallidus MH-MCZArtwork ARC 209-201.jpg|alt=A 19th century watercolor painting of a pale flag cichlid.|thumb|A 19th century watercolor painting of a pale flag cichlid by Jacques Burkhardt.|left]]
Phylogeny derived from morphological characters shows differences at the genus level with phylogeny based on [[Locus (genetics)|genetic loci]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Streelman |first1=J.T. |last2=Zardoya |first2=R. |last3=Meyer |first3=A. |last4=Karl |first4=S. A. |date=1 July 1998 |title=Multilocus phylogeny of cichlid fishes (Pisces: Perciformes): evolutionary comparison of microsatellite and single-copy nuclear loci. |journal=Molecular Biology and Evolution |volume=15 |issue=7 |pages=798–808 |doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a025985 |pmid=10766579 |doi-access=free}}</ref> A consensus remains that the Cichlidae as a family are monophyletic.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Salzburger |first1=Walter |last2=Meyer |first2=Axel |date=June 2004 |title=The species flocks of East African cichlid fishes: Recent advances in molecular phylogenetics and population genetics |journal=Naturwissenschaften |volume=91 |issue=6 |pages=277–90 |doi=10.1007/s00114-004-0528-6 |pmid=15241604 |bibcode=2004NW.....91..277S |s2cid=5816449 |url=http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:352-opus-32995 }}</ref>

In cichlid taxonomy, [[dentition]] was formerly used as a classifying characteristic, but this was complicated because in many cichlids, tooth shapes change with age, due to wear, and cannot be relied upon. [[DNA sequencing|Genome sequencing]] and other technologies transformed cichlid taxonomy.

Alternatively, all cichlid species native to the [[New World]], can be classified under the subfamily Cichlinae, while Etroplinae can classify all cichlid species native to the [[Old World]].