Editing Cichlid (section)

=== External taxonomy ===
The taxonomic placement of cichlids has long been disputed and variable, and has only recently been largely resolved. In the past, based on morphological characteristics, cichlids were classed in a suborder, the [[Labroidei]], along with the wrasses ([[Labridae]]), in the order [[Perciformes]].<ref name="Stiassny">{{cite journal |author1=Stiassny, M.L.J. |author2=Jensen, J.S. |year=1987 |title=Labroid intrarelationships revisited: morphological complexity, key innovations, and the study of comparative diversity |journal=Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology |volume=151 |pages=269–319}}</ref> However, studies incorporating [[molecular phylogenetics]] have contradicted this grouping.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wainwright |first1=Peter C. |display-authors=etal |year=2012 |title=The evolution of pharyngognathy: A phylogenetic and functional appraisal of the pharyngeal jaw key innovation in labroid fishes and beyond |journal=[[Systematic Biology]] |volume=61 |issue=6 |pages=1001–1027 |doi=10.1093/sysbio/sys060 |pmid=22744773 |doi-access=free}}</ref> 

More recent phylogenetic studies support the creation of a distinct order, the [[Cichliformes]], to contain the cichlids and their close relatives, which are no longer thought to be closely related to wrasses. The closest living relative of cichlids has been found to be the marine [[Pholidichthys leucotaenia|convict blenny]], and both families are classified in the 5th edition of ''[[Fishes of the World]]'' as the two families in the Cichliformes, part of the subseries [[Ovalentaria]].<ref name="Nelson5">{{cite book |author1=Nelson, J.S. |url=https://sites.google.com/site/fotw5th/ |title=Fishes of the World |author2=Grande, T.C. |author3=Wilson, M.V.H. |publisher=Wiley |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-118-34233-6 |edition=5th |pages=752 |access-date=5 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190408194051/https://sites.google.com/site/fotw5th/ |archive-date=8 April 2019 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The [[Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes|Catalog of Fishes]] adopts the same placement, although the [[Polycentridae|leaffishes]] (which have a similar African and South American distribution) are now also placed in the Cichliformes.<ref name=":12">{{Cite web |last1=Fricke |first1=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> Although these interrelationships are now generally well-supported, other authors have interpreted these relationships in differing ways, such as instead placing the cichlids, leaffish, and convict blenny as the most basal members of an expanded [[Blenniiformes]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Near |first1=Thomas J. |last2=Thacker |first2=Christine E. |date=2024-04-18 |title=Phylogenetic Classification of Living and Fossil Ray-Finned Fishes (Actinopterygii) |url=https://bioone.org/journals/bulletin-of-the-peabody-museum-of-natural-history/volume-65/issue-1/014.065.0101/Phylogenetic-Classification-of-Living-and-Fossil-Ray-Finned-Fishes-Actinopterygii/10.3374/014.065.0101.full |journal=Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History |volume=65 |issue=1 |page=101 |doi=10.3374/014.065.0101 |bibcode=2024BPMNH..65..101N |issn=0079-032X}}</ref>