Description

Dorsal spines (total): 14 - 16; Dorsal soft rays (total): 9 - 10; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 8 - 10; Vertebrae: 28 - 30. Diagnosis: Species with a piscivorous morphology; outer oral teeth many, small, and strongly recurved, 39-51; dominant males olive-green with an orange-red anterior part of flank and well-defined mid-lateral and dorsal-lateral bands (Ref. 126312). Amongst piscivorous species from the Lake Edward system, Haplochromis falcatus differs from all except H. curvidens by strongly recurved vs. straight to weakly recurved outer jaw teeth (Ref. 126312). It further differs from H. latifrons, H. rex, H. simba and H. aquila by the combination of smaller outer oral teeth and a larger number of outer upper jaw teeth, 39-51 vs. 22-42; further from H. latifrons, H. rex and H. simba by a shallower lacrimal, lacrimal depth 16.1-18.8% of head length vs. 18.7-23.0%; further from H. rex, H. simba and H. aquila by presence vs. absence of well-defined mid-lateral and dorsal-lateral bands; and dominant males uniformly olive-green with an orange-red anterior part of flank vs. cream-coloured with an orange operculum and light blue snout, uniformly yellow with an orange anterior part of flank, or light grey with a black head, respectively (Ref. 126312). It further differs from H. mentatus and H. glaucus by the combination of a longer pre-dorsal distance, 36.9-41.1% of standard length vs. 33.3-37.0%; a gentler lower jaw side, 15-25° vs. 30-45°; and presence vs. absence of well-defined mid-lateral and dorsal-lateral bands; further from H. mentatus by a longer head, head length 36.6-39.6% of standard length vs. 33.4-37.0%; further from H. glaucus by dominant males olive-green with an orange-red anterior part of flank vs. uniformly light blue (Ref. 126312). It further differs from H. kimondo by the combination of an oval vs. pyriform body; a straight vs. convex dorsal outline of head; shallower cheeks, cheek depth 23.3-27.4% of head length vs. 27.1-35.2%; narrower jaws, lower jaw width 40.2-45.6% of lower jaw length vs. 44.7-53.3%; and dominant males olive-green with an orange-red anterior part of flank vs. grey dorsally and yellow ventrally (Ref. 126312). It differs from H. curvidens and further differs from H. pardus by the combination of a deeper cheek, cheek depth 25.1-28.0% of head length vs. 20.8-24.9%; and a longer pre-dorsal distance, 38.2-41.1% of standard length vs. 34.1-37.9%; further from H. curvidens by presence vs. absence of well-defined mid-lateral and dorsal-lateral bands; further from H. pardus by larger adult size, maximum size 137 mm vs. 96 mm standard length; and colour pattern of small specimens less than 100 mm standard length light coloured vs. speckled to uniformly black (Ref. 126312). It further differs from H. quasimodo and H. squamipinnis by the combination of a longer head, head length 36.6-39.6% of standard length vs. 33.9-37.2%; a shorter pelvic fin, pelvic fin length 21.6-25.7% of standard length vs. 25.2-35.4%; and dominant males olive-green with an orange-red anterior part of flank vs. light grey dorsally and blue-black ventrally or slate blue, respectively; further from H. squamipinnis by absence vs. presence of minute scales on proximal parts of dorsal and anal fin (Ref. 126312).

Common Names

No common names available.

Taxonomic Hierarchy

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Teleostei

Order: Cichliformes

Family: Cichlidae

Genus: Haplochromis

Species: Haplochromis falcatus Vranken, Van Steenberge, Heylen, Decru & Snoeks, 2022

Climate Zone

Location

Biology

Found over sandy substrates (Ref. 126312). Based on its morphology, most probably a piscivorous species (Ref. 126312).

Habitat

pelagic