It was the late 1950's or early '60's that the first accounts of peacock bass were told by the late Field and Stream angling editor A.J. McClane. His text and stories described huge, hump-backed fish that had a resemblance to largemouth bass, but were much bigger and were brightly colored. McClane referred to those fish as pavón, the local Venezuelan name, which loosely translated to peacock in English.

Some believe that the bass moniker was either added to peacock by Florida Fish and Game personnel that were involved in the early stocking programs, or perhaps an American fishing tour operator, believing that not many "gringo" anglers would be interested in traveling to the Amazon to catch a fish called pavón, but peacock bass, well that might just work.

In actuality, the peacock bass is not a member of the bass family at all. It is just one of some 1,600 plus members of the family of fish called cichlids. There are some striking similarities to the largemouth bass, such as basic body contour, cavernous mouth, ravenous appetite and a strong propensity to attack prey and fishing lures with a ferocity that is more reminiscent of much larger fish. One striking difference, immediately apparent is that the peacock bass is much more vividly colored in varying shades of green, blue, orange and gold, hence the name peacock bass.

"Don't let this 'Fancy Dan' appearance fool you," says author and National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame angler Spence Petros. "The peacock bass is much more aggressive than the largemouth, often pursuing lures or prey larger than itself. Peacock bass routinely break lines, shatter rods and destroy tackle that would subdue the toughest largemouth. The peacock bass has evolved and actually flourishes in an environment that possesses vast schools of vicious piranhas, giant Amazon catfish the size of Volkswagens, 12-foot long armor scaled pirarucus, alligators and an assortment of other unsavory characters that possess fangs, stingers, toxins and never-ending appetites."

A black circular "eye spot" - dramatically rimmed in fluorescent gold - at the base of the tail fin is a common characteristic shared by all species of peacock bass. It is said that this "eye spot" resembles that found on the tail plume of the peacock fowl and perhaps this is the reason that many South American anglers referred to this fish as pavón or peacock bass. It has been postulated that this eye spot is a defense mechanism to deceive prey species in search of a meal. It is much more likely to survive a bite to the false eye to its tail than it would to the regular eyes situated on its head - a targeted site by larger prey species. Another unique difference between peacock bass and their North American counterparts is that both female and male fish can reach trophy proportions.

One differentiating anatomical characteristic between large male and female peacock bass is that male peacock bass develop a prominent hump on their head during the spawn, its purpose the source of much speculation. Some suggest this hump might serve as a natural weapon, used as a battering ram when engaged in battle with other male peacock bass and to protect fry and territory. Others suggest that this is a source of protein or fat used to feed developing fry. Dr. Kirk Winemiller, a Texas A & M fisheries biologist, suggests that it is a hormonal induced structure that might make the male peacock bass more appealing to the females of the species such as the mane of a large male lion.

According to the research of fisheries scientists Dr. Sven Kullander from the Swedish Historical and Natural Museum, Dr. Kirk Winemiller and Dr. Efrem Ferreira, from the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, some 15 different species of peacock bass (cichlids) exist. However, only five of them are currently described in the scientific literature. These species include Cichla temensis, Cichla ocellaris, Cichla intermedia, Cichla orinocencis and Cichla monoculus. Although another 10 are still without scientific description, Drs. Kullander and Ferreira will be publishing a complete paper in which they will identify further species of peacock bass.

Species Identification

Americans refer to it as peacock bass, but you will not find this moniker in the vocabulary of the average South American angler. It is estimated that some 2,500 American anglers visit South America each year to fish for this fantastic freshwater gamefish, the peacock bass.

Brazilians refer to this hard fighting cichlid as tucunaré, an Indian derived name. It is pronounced too-coo-na-ray. It is the national freshwater sportfish of Brazil.

Venezuelans know the peacock bass as pavon, loosely translated to peacock. It is pronounced pa-vone. Venezuela was probably the first country to introduce American anglers to the peacock bass.

The identification and naming of the various peacock bass species can be confusing. The International Gamefish Association (IGFA) recognizes four species of peacock bass for their record keeping purposes. There is conflict over the scientific name that the IGFA associates with the butterfly peacock species. While the IGFA lists Cichla ocellaris as the scientific name for the butterfly variety, this might be the least commonly found species of butterfly peacock bass, while two other named species (the cichla orinocensis and cichla monoculus) not recognized by the IGFA are much more readily available to anglers and they both should legitimately be considered as true butterfly peacock bass.

Another of the four species they recognize, the blue peacock bass, also called gray bar peacock, does not have a scientific formal name yet.

Peacock bass demonstrate three qualities that make them an ideal angling target: they are territorial; they are parental guarders and they aggressively chase down prey. Because they are so territorial, it is believed that a fairly high percentage of strikes will occur just because your lure or fly has violated their territory. Since peacock bass parents protect their young after birthing them for a period of time, they will assault a lure or fly because it is a threat to their offspring. Their aggressive demeanor and ravenous appetites can best be exemplified by the vivid image of 12-inch long baitfish actually beaching themselves on sandbars to escape the onslaught of peacock bass on the feed. When one takes advantage of what will trigger a feeding or aggression response by peacock bass, it will increase the odds of landing more fish.
Peacock Bass Pavon