Description

Vertebrae: 30 - 32. Diagnosis: Small sized, slender (body depth less than 31% of standard length), micrognathic zooplanktivorous Haplochromis species with slightly curved to straight dorsal head profile. Relatively long and slender, mainly bicuspid, teeth in oral jaws. Premaxillary dentigerous area extending almost to caudal end of dentigerous arm. Both males and females silvery with conspicuously ivory-white lips. Three to five, generally faint vertical stripes on flank; faint traces of a dark mid-lateral band occasionally present. Males with yellow to greenish sheen on flank (Ref. 92860).

Common Names

No common names available.

Taxonomic Hierarchy

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Teleostei

Order: Cichliformes

Family: Cichlidae

Genus: Haplochromis

Species: Haplochromis argens de Zeeuw, Westbroek & Witte, 2013

Climate Zone

Location

Biology

Haplochromis argens is a pelagic species from the littoral and sub-littoral zone (Ref. 92860). At night the species is virtually restricted to the two upper metres of the water column; by day, the highest densities were found at two to three metres from the surface, but individuals of this species were also caught with bottom trawls over sand and mud bottoms, and in gill nets and traps near rocks (Ref. 92860). Before the ecological changes in Lake Victoria, the diet of H. argens comprised mainly zooplankton during the day; Chaoborus larvae were important at night (Ref. 92860). The current diet is unknown, but all the studied resurgent species in the Mwanza Gulf changed their diet (Ref. 92860). Haplochromis argens is a female mouth brooder (Ref. 92860). Spawning sites are located at depths less than 9 metres (Ref. 35300).

Habitat

pelagic