Description

Dorsal spines (total): 14 - 16; Dorsal soft rays (total): 8 - 10; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 8 - 10; Vertebrae: 30 - 31. Diagnosis: Haplochromis aureus is a species with an acute snout; acutely pointed oral teeth; very broad interorbital area, interorbital width 56.8-66.6% of head width; very short predorsal distance, predorsal distance 31.7-34.4% of standard length; dominant males light blue with yellow snout, cheeks, and chest (Ref. 128938). Small specimens can be mistaken for Haplochromis pappenheimi or H. pelagicus, but differ from both by a deeper body, body depth 30.7-33.5% of standard length vs. 25.4-31.0%; longer upper jaw, upper jaw length 29.3-35.6% of head length vs. 26.5-29.4%; fewer gill rakers, 12-14 vs. 13-18 (Ref. 128938). It resembles H. mentatus in habitus and overlaps slightly in habitat (H. mentatus mostly restricted to littoral regions), differs by a shorter lower jaw, lower jaw length 41.1-46.4% of head length vs. 43.9-51.0%; more and smaller upper outer teeth, upper outer teeth 48-65 vs. 28-46, and dominant males light blue with yellow cheeks and chest vs. uniformly yellow-green with red flanks (Ref. 128938).

Common Names

No common names available.

Taxonomic Hierarchy

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Teleostei

Order: Cichliformes

Family: Cichlidae

Genus: Haplochromis

Species: Haplochromis aureus Vranken, Van Steenberge, Mbalassa & Snoeks, 2023

Climate Zone

Location

Biology

Abundant in the upper water layers of deepwater regions (Ref. 128938). It feeds on chaoborids and winged ants; most probably an insectivorous species that catches aquatic and terrestrial insects from the water surface (Ref. 128938).

Habitat

pelagic