In six species juveniles possess three dark blotches on the side and a dark band connecting the posterior blotch to the dark blotch at the caudal-fin base: Cichla ocellaris is known from the Guianas, including the Marowijne, Suriname, Corantijn, Demerara, and Essequibo river drainages, and also the upper Rio Branco in Brazil. Cichla orinocensis is known from the Negro and Orinoco river drainages in Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela. Cichla monoculus is widespread in the floodplains of the Amazon basin, in Colombia, Peru, and Brazil, and also collected from rivers of Amapá in Brazil, and the lower Oyapock River on the border between Brazil and French Guiana. Cichla nigromaculata is known from the upper Rio Orinoco in Venezuela and, tentatively, the middle Rio Negro in Brazil. Cichla kelberi, new species, is restricted to the Tocantins river basin, but also found transplanted in the Paraná and Paraíba do Sul river drainages and reported from the Nordeste region of Brazil. Cichla pleiozona, new species, occurs in the Madre de Dios, Beni, and Guaporé river drainages in Bolivia and Brazil, and in the Rio Jamari in Brazil. A lectotype is fixed for Cychla toucounarai which is a synonym of Cichla monoculus.

Juveniles and young of the remaining nine species, in addition to the three midlateral blotches, possess a dark horizontal band extending from the head to the dark blotch at the caudal-fin base: Cichla mirianae, new species, is restricted to the upper Tapajós river drainage, in the Juruena and Teles Pires rivers, and the upper Xingu river drainage in Brazil. Cichla melaniae, new species, is restricted to the lower Xingu river drainage in Brazil. Cichla piquiti, new species, is restricted to the Tocantins river basin, but transplanted in the Paraná river basin in Brazil and Paraguay. Cichla thyrorus, new species, occurs in the Rio Trombetas in Brazil, upstream from the Cachoeira Porteira. Cichla jariina, new species, occurs in the Rio Jari in Brazil, where it is so far recorded only from the region of the Santo Antonio rapids. Cichla pinima, new species, occurs in the lower parts of southern tributaries of the Rio Amazonas in Brazil (Tapajós, Curuá-Una, Xingu), and the lower Tocantins and Capim rivers. Tentatively identified specimens are recorded from the Amapá, Araguari, and Canumã rivers in Brazil. Cichla pinima occurs translocated in the Rio Paraguaçu in southeastern Brazil, and is reported as translocated from the northeast of Brazil. Cichla vazzoleri, new species, occurs in the Uatumã and lower Trombetas rivers in Brazil. Cichla temensis is known from the Negro and Orinoco river drainages in Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela. It is also recorded from blackwater rivers along the Rio Solimões-Amazonas in Brazil (Tefé, Rio Puraquequara, Rio Uatumã, and Silves). Cichla intermedia is restricted to the Casiquiare and Orinoco river drainages in Venezuela.

A phylogenetic analysis suggests that C. intermedia, C. piquiti, and C. melaniae are successive basal species, whereas an unresolved group composed of C. jariina, C. pinima, C. temensis, C. thyrorus, and C. vazzoleri is the sister group of (C. mirianae,(C. orinocensis,((C. ocellaris, C. nigromaculata),(C. monoculus, C. kelberi, C. pleiozona))).