"eartheaters" - definition?

[peathenster]

Got in a bit of an argument about which genera are eartheaters and which aren't.....

what's the proper/strict definition of "eartheaters" and just which genera are included?

 

[darth pike]

I don't think think there is a strict meaning to it really, it was used to describe the Geophagine tribe back when they were all/mostly in the Geophagus genus. In the strictest sense, you could use it for the species in the Geophagus genus.

In the broader sense, you could use it for the entire Geophagine family.

Typically though, most people leave out some Geophagine groups like pikes, apistos, Apistogrammoides, Taenicara, and Dicrossus ...

which usually leaves Geophagus, Satanoperca, Gymnogeophagus, Biotodoma, Microgeophagus, Guianacara, the red hump complex, the brasilinesis complex, and heckelii ... as these are the species most likely to actually sift or at least pick at the substrate.

 

[peathenster]

Thanks....who came up with this name anyways?

I thought Weidner listed Geophagus, Satanoperca, Gymnogeophagus, Biotodoma, Acarichthys, Retroculus and Guianacara.....and Guianacara got kicked out later...

I don't think think there is a strict meaning to it really, it was used to describe the Geophagine tribe back when they were all/mostly in the Geophagus genus. In the strictest sense, you could use it for the species in the Geophagus genus.

In the broader sense, you could use it for the entire Geophagine family.

Typically though, most people leave out some Geophagine groups like pikes, apistos, Apistogrammoides, Taenicara, and Dicrossus ...

which usually leaves Geophagus, Satanoperca, Gymnogeophagus, Biotodoma, Microgeophagus, Guianacara, the red hump complex, the brasilinesis complex, and heckelii ... as these are the species most likely to actually sift or at least pick at the substrate.

 

[darth pike]

Eartheater? Literal translation of Geophagus.

Further DNA evidence by Kullander and Fernandez puts Guianacara back into the Geophagine family and removes Retroculus from it.

Now if you use the term 'sifter' ... that can include Retroculus, Astatheros, Thorichthys, a couple of westies, ect ect.

But both eartheater and sifter are the group equilavent of common names, so I don't believe there is a real true answer.

 

[peathenster]

I wonder what Heckel would want to call "eartheaters" today

Eartheater? Literal translation of Geophagus.

Further DNA evidence by Kullander and Fernandez puts Guianacara back into the Geophagine family and removes Retroculus from it.

Now if you use the term 'sifter' ... that can include Retroculus, Astatheros, Thorichthys, a couple of westies, ect ect.

But both eartheater and sifter are the group equilavent of common names, so I don't believe there is a real true answer.