Inca Stone Fish (Tahuantinsuyoa Macantzatza)

An attractive, medium-sized South American Cichlid, the Inca Stone Fish is found in somewhat remote areas of the middle and upper Rio Ucayali in Peru. Superficially similar to the well-known Gold Saum and Green Terrors in the genus Andinoacara, these cichlids are unique enough to have been placed in their own genus, named for the Quechuan language word for the vast Inca empire, “Tahuanitsuyo” or “Tahuanitsuyu”. In the wild, they inhabit rocky, fast moving waters and are a hardy and adaptable species in the aquarium. With a maximum size of just under 6″, they are much smaller than some of their close relatives and a pair will generally be comfortable in a medium sized aquarium. Although they will breed in the aquarium, they can be challenging to spawn and remain an uncommon species in the aquarium hobby.