Occurrence map

Every cichlid on one map

56,125 georeferenced records across 6,747 species and 16 water bodies — the rift-lake flocks of Africa, the great river basins of South America and everything between. Colour the cloud by region and toggle layers on and off, or switch to compare mode and read two species’ ranges against each other.

About this map. Scroll or pinch to zoom, drag to pan, and click a dot to identify the species. The dots are real occurrence records, aggregated from GBIF (the Global Biodiversity Information Facility — museum specimens, scientific surveys and verified citizen-science sightings) together with the type localities cited in the atlas. Treat them as a guide to where a species lives, not exact spots: many records are georeferenced to a locality centroid (a nearby town or shoreline) rather than the precise catch site, some are historical or low-precision, and the occasional point may be a misidentification or a record from outside the native range. For speed the on-screen cloud shows 12,938 of 56,125 records (decimated, keeping at least one point per species); no coordinates are invented, but any single dot can sit a little off.

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