Geophagus surinamensis is a catch-all name given to most geos by LFS. They are often not
G. surinamensis at all. The actual fish are rare in the hobby because there are very few exports out of the area where they're caught.
There are two glaring differences between
G. proximus and
G. surinamensis: the midlateral spot and the preopercular mark.
G. proximus has a preopercular mark and a giant midlateral spot, while
G. surinamensis lacks a preopercular mark and has a (relatively) smaller midlateral spot.
Most of the fish sold as
G. surinamensis end up being
G. altifrons or
G. abalios, or some variant that is similar. These fish in most cases also lack a preopercular mark, separating them from the
G. proximus in this thread.
Nearly all the fish at this link are not
G. surinamensis, which is proof that they are often mislabeled. Remember, just because something exists on Google doesn't make it true. If a person uploads a mislabeled picture, it will show up when you search it.
