A review of the species of the cichlid genus Crenicichla Heckel, 1840 in French Guiana is presented. Five species are encountered, viz.: C. saxatilis (Linnaeus, 1758), C. albopunctata Pellegrin, 1904, C. multispinosa Pellegrin, 1903, C. ternetzi Norman, 1926, and C. johanna Heckel, 1840. Their geographic distribution is indicated. The variation of morphometric, meristic, and pigment characters are examined. The variability of these characters is compared with the variability within Crenicichla saxatilis from the Suriname River, Surinam (Ploeg, 1986).