The Peacock bass is the common name in English for a group of closely related species of tropical, freshwater fish of the genus Cichla, native to the Amazon River basin of South America. They also inhabit the waters ofColombia, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Venezuela and some tropical regions the United States; these being Florida, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and the US Virgin Islands. Despite their name, these fish are cichlids, not basses. 

 

The speckled peacock bass is the largest species and can grow up to 100 centimeters in length. The royal peacock bass is the smallest and grows to a maximum length of 55 centimeters. Also, most display three wide vertical stripes on their bodies and a spot on their tail fins that resembles the eyes on a peacock's tail feathers—a feature which resulted in their English and Spanish common names. In addition, all adult males have a pronounced hump on their foreheads. Other physical traits can vary greatly, depending on the species, individual and stage of development. These include, but are not limited to: dark rosettes instead of stripes, light speckles and impressive shades of bright green, orange, blue and gold. The stripes, however, tend to fade in late adulthood.