| Cichlinae | |
|---|---|
| |
| |
| Two extremes from the subfamily: one of the largest cichlids Cichla temensis above, and the tiny Teleocichla cinderella below | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Cichliformes |
| Family: | Cichlidae |
| Subfamily: | Cichlinae Bonaparte 1835[1] |
| Tribes | |
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see text | |
The Cichlinae are a subfamily of fishes in the cichlid family, native to South America.
This subfamily consists of approximately 117 described species as of July 2017.[2] Some authors have suggested that the Cichlinae encompasses all of the Neotropical Cichlids and found the taxon to be monphyletic and to be divided into seven tribes: Astronotini, Chaetobranchini, Cichlasomatini, Cichlini, Geophagini, Heroini, and Retroculini. In this system the Geophaginae plus the Chaetobranchini were recovered as the sister taxon to the clade consisting of the Heroini plus the Cichlatsomatini, these latter two being referred to as the subfamily Cichlasomatinae in some classifications, while the monogeneric Astronotini was a sister taxon to these four, while the Cichlini and Retroculini made up a sister clade of the other five.[3]