The poor man's tropheus, Hypsophrys nematopus, formerly Neetroplus nematopus, is a species of fish in the family Cichlidae. It was formerly the only species in the genus Neetroplus, but in 2007 was reclassified into the genus Hypsophrys

Hypsophrys

Hypsophrys is a small genus of cichlid fishes from Central America. The genus currently contains 2 species. It originally contained just H. nicaraguensis but was revised in 2007 to include the poor man's tropheus, or neet, H...

. It is a small-medium sized cichlid growing to a length of 12 cm; it occurs in the Central America

Central America

Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...

n rift lakes (Lake Xiloa, Lake Managua

Lake Managua

Lake Managua is a lake in Nicaragua. The Spanish name is Lago de Managua or Lago Xolotlán. At 1,042 km², it is approximately long and wide. Similarly to the name of Lake Nicaragua, its name was coined by the Spanish conquerors from "Mangue" and agua...

, Lake Masaya and Lake Nicaragua

Lake Nicaragua

Lake Nicaragua or Cocibolca or Granada or is a vast freshwater lake in Nicaragua of tectonic origin. With an area of , it is the largest lake in Central America, the 19th largest lake in the world and the 9th largest in the Americas. It is slightly smaller than Lake Titicaca. With an elevation...

) and riverine habitats on the Atlantic coasts of Costa Rica

Costa Rica

Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....

 and Nicaragua

Nicaragua

Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...

. Like most Central American cichlids the species is commonly found in hard, alkali

Alkali

In chemistry, an alkali is a basic, ionic salt of an alkali metal or alkaline earth metal element. Some authors also define an alkali as a base that dissolves in water. A solution of a soluble base has a pH greater than 7. The adjective alkaline is commonly used in English as a synonym for base,...

ne (pH

PH

In chemistry, pH is a measure of the acidity or basicity of an aqueous solution. Pure water is said to be neutral, with a pH close to 7.0 at . Solutions with a pH less than 7 are said to be acidic and solutions with a pH greater than 7 are basic or alkaline...

 7.5) water. Its diet consists of algae and plant material which it scrapes from rocks and other hard surfaces in a fashion similar to algal grazing cichlids of Lake Malawi

Lake Malawi

Lake Malawi , is an African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the Great Rift Valley system of East Africa. This lake, the third largest in Africa and the eighth largest lake in the world, is located between Malawi, Mozambique, and Tanzania...

, Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

. Some populations are reportedly involved in cleaning

Cleaning station

A cleaning station is a location where fish, sea turtles, hippo and other aquatic life, freshwater and marine, congregate to be cleaned.The cleaning process includes the removal of parasites from the animal's body , and can be performed by various creatures A cleaning station is a location where...

other fish of parasites. Like all cichlids, brood care is highly developed with both parents involved in fry raising. Colouration changes dramatically (see picture below) while breeding.