Thorichthys

{{Short description|Genus of fishes}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| image = Thorichthys aureus - AquaPorteDoree 02.JPG

| image_caption = Thorichthys aureus

| taxon = Thorichthys

| authority = Meek, 1904

| type_species = Thorichthys ellioti

| type_species_authority = Meek, 1904

}}

Thorichthys is a genus of cichlid fish that is native to the Atlantic slope of Middle America, ranging from southern Veracruz and the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico, to Guatemala and Honduras, with introduced populations in a few other countries.{{cite journal | author = McMahan, C.D. | author2 = Matamoros, W.A. | author3 = Piller, K.R. | author4 = Chakrabarty, P. | name-list-style = amp | year = 2015 | title = Taxonomy and systematics of the herichthyins (Cichlidae: Tribe Heroini), with the description of eight new Middle American Genera | journal = Zootaxa | volume = 3999 | issue = 2 | pages = 211–234 | url = http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2015/f/zt03999p234.pdf | doi=10.11646/zootaxa.3999.2.3 | pmid=26623572}}{{cite web| title=Thorichthys meeki | url=https://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/thorichthys-meeki/ | publisher=SeriouslyFish | accessdate=28 December 2021 }} They tend to inhabit moderately-flowing to standing water such as rivers, streams, lakes, ditches and lagoons, and they are primarily freshwater fish, although T. helleri and T. meeki may occur in slightly brackish habitats.{{cite web| title=Thorichthys | url=https://www.iucnredlist.org/search?query=Thorichthys&searchType=species | publisher=IUCN | access-date=28 December 2021 }}

Thorichthys have somewhat pointy heads and their body often has a large blackish spot, a broad dark horizontal stripe and/or a sometimes inconspicuous pattern of vertical bands. They mostly feed on invertebrates and detritus. Members of Thorichthys do not exceed {{convert|17|cm|in|abbr=on}} in standard length,{{FishBase genus | genus = Thorichthys| month = July | year = 2017}} and they are popular aquarium fish, especially the well-known firemouth cichlid (T. meeki). Genetic evidence shows that Thorichthys is most closely related to Salvin's cichlid, the only species of the genus Trichromis, which is morphologically and behaviorally rather different. In contrast, Thorichthys is not particularly close to Cribroheros despite having several features that are similar.{{cite journal|title=Diversity and evolution of the Middle American cichlid fishes (Teleostei: Cichlidae) with revised classification|author=Říčan, O.|author2=Piálek, L.|author3=Dragová, K.|author4=Novák, J.|name-list-style=amp|journal=Vertebrate Zoology|pages=1–102|volume=66|issue=1|year=2016|doi=10.3897/vz.66.e31534 |doi-access=free |url=http://www.senckenberg.de/files/content/forschung/publikationen/vertebratezoology/vz66-1/01_vertebrate_zoology_66-1_rican_1-102.pdf|accessdate=2019-01-25}}