Geophagus is a genus of cichlids that mainly live in South America as far south as Argentina and Uruguay, but a single species, G. crassilabris is from Panama. They are found in a wide range of freshwater habitats. They are part of a group popularly known as eartheaters and mostly feed by picking up mouthfuls of sediment to sift out food items such as invertebrates, plant material and detritus. The largest species reach up to 28 cm in standard length. They are mostly kept in aquariums.

As an invasive species

Geophagus Surinamensis was an invasive species in Malaysia, recently found in Putrajaya, the populations are now controlled by giant snakeheads.

Taxonomy

Some cichlids previously included in this genus have been reallocated to Biotodoma, Gymnogeophagus or Satanoperca. Even with these as separate genera, Geophagus is currently polyphyletic and in need of further taxonomic revision. There are three main groups:

Species

There are currently 32 recognized species in this genus. Additionally, plus the species already described in 2022 that are known.The new species of Geophagus naming a cichlid species in 2022