Chameleon Cichlid

Australoheros facetus has a high and deeply compressed body which is covered with large scales. It has a small, upward pointing mouth in which the jaws do not reach farther than the forward margin of the eye. It has a long dorsal fin which extends to two thirds of the total length of the fish. The caudal fin has a rounded shape. It is distinguished from other species in the genus Australoheros by its longer lower jaw, upward pointing mouth and in having the shortest dorsal scale cover and the fewest scales on the dorsal and anal fins. Most specimens, 80% of fish, have four abdominal bars while these are present in only half of the individuals of its congeners. They normally attain 18 centimetres (7.1 in) in length but males have been recorded at 60 centimetres (24 in) The colour varies from brassy yellow through to greenish and even black and it is normally marked with a number of dark transverse bands. The males are larger than the females with larger fins.

Australoheros facetus has a native range in the Río de la Plata Basin in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, and in the coastal drainages of Uruguay, Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil and Buenos Aires in Argentina. It has been introduced and established to southern Iberia and Chile. It is also known to have been introduced to Germany and the Philippines but it failed to establish in Germany and its status in the Philippines is not known.