Herichthys pantostictus

{{Short description|Species of fish}}

{{Speciesbox

| image = Herichthys molango.jpg

| image_caption = Herichthys molango

| image2 = Herichthys pratinus.jpg

| image2_caption = Herichthys pratinus

| status = LC

| status_system = IUCN3.1

| status_ref = {{cite iucn |author=Soto Galera, E. |year=2019 |title=Herichthys pantostictus |volume=2019 |page=e.T4837A3012515 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-2.RLTS.T4837A3012515.en |access-date=24 July 2019}}

| taxon = Herichthys pantostictus

| authority = (J. N. Taylor & R. R. Miller, 1983)

| synonyms = {{species list

|Cichlasoma pantostictus |Taylor & Miller, 1983

|Nosferatu pantostictus |(Taylor & Miller, 1983)

|Herichthys molango |De la Maza-Benignos & Lozano-Vilano, 2013

|Herichthys pratinus |De la Maza-Benignos & Lozano-Vilano, 2013}}

}}

Herichthys pantostictus, the Chairel cichlid or Atezca cichlid, is a species of cichlid native to the Panuco River drainage of Mexico's Atlantic coast where it is mostly found in moderately fast flowing rivers, slightly brackish, murky lakes and lagoons along the coast.{{cite journal|author1=De La Maza-Benignos, M. |author2=Lozano-Vilano, M.d.L. |name-list-style=amp |title= Description of three new species of the genus Herichthys (Perciformes: Cichlidae) from eastern Mexico, with redescription of H. labridens, H. steindachneri, and H. pantostictus |journal=Zootaxa|date=2013|volume=3734 |issue=2|pages=101–129|doi=10.11646/zootaxa.3734.2.1|pmid=25277902}}{{cite journal|author=De la Maza-Benignos, M.|author2=Ornelas-García, C. P.|author3=Lozano-Vilano, M.d.L.|author4=García-Ramírez, M.E.|author5=Doadio, I.|name-list-style=amp|year=2015|title=Phylogeographic analysis of genus Herichthys (Perciformes: Cichlidae), with descriptions of Nosferatu new genus and H. tepehua n. sp. |journal=Hydrobiologia|volume=748 |issue=1|pages=201–231|doi=10.1007/s10750-014-1891-8|bibcode=2015HyBio.748..201D |hdl=10261/126238|s2cid=16769534|hdl-access=free}} A lacustrine form, formerly described as Herichthys molango and endemic to "Laguna Atezca" in the municipality of Molango, has now been extirpated by introduced species.{{cite book|author=Díaz-Pardo, E.|author2= Pineda-López, R. |author3= Gutiérrez-Hernández, A. |year=2002|chapter=Natural history of Cichlasoma labridens (Teleostei: Cichlidae), a Mexican species in danger of extinction|editor=Lozano-Vilano, M.d.L. |title=Libro Jubilar en Honor al Dr. Salvador Contreras Balderas|publisher=Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Mexico|pages=223–240}} The species reaches a maximum size of {{convert|12.6|cm|in|0}} SL though most do not exceed {{convert|5.6|cm|in}}, and can also be found in the aquarium trade.{{FishBase |genus= Herichthys|species= pantostictus| month = November | year = 2014}}