Description

Dorsal spines (total): 14 - 16; Dorsal soft rays (total): 9 - 11; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 8 - 10; Vertebrae: 30 - 31. Diagnosis: Species with a piscivorous morphology; head blunt and with convex dorsal outline; cheek deep, cheek depth 27.1-35.2% of head length; outer oral teeth many and small, 43-70; dominant males grey dorsally and yellow ventrally (Ref. 126312). Amongst piscivorous species from the Lake Edward system, Haplochromis kimondo differs from H. latifrons, H. mentatus, H. rex, H. simba, H. glaucus and H. aquila by the combination of a broader head, head width 42.9-48.0% of headclength vs. 36.8-43.7%; small vs. large outer oral teeth; and a larger number of outer upper jaw teeth, 43-70 vs. 22-47 (Ref. 126312). It differs from H. falcatus, H. curvidens, H. pardus, H. quasimodo, and H. squamipinnis by the combination of body pyriform vs. oval to rhomboid; and snout blunt vs. (very) acute in dorsal view; it differs further from H. falcatus and H. curvidens by the combination of deeper cheeks, cheek depth 27.1-35.2% of head length vs. 22.4-28.0%; broader jaws, lower jaw width 44.7-53.3% of lower jaw length vs. 38.5-45.5%; and a slightly broader head, head width 42.9-48.0% of head length vs. 39.9-44.4%; further from H. falcatus by dominant males grey dorsally and yellow ventrally vs. olive-green with an orange-red anterior part of flank; further from H. curvidens by presence vs. absence of a well-defined mid-lateral band in all specimens; it further differs from H. pardus, H. quasimodo and H. squamipinnis by a steeper sloping snout, 40-50° vs. 30-40°; and dominant males grey dorsally and yellow ventrally vs. speckled to uniformly black, light grey dorsally and blue-black ventrally, or slate blue, respectively; further from H. pardus and H. quasimodo by a broader interorbital area, interorbital width 49.2-58.5% of head width vs. 39.3-48.7%; further from H. squamipinnis by absence vs. presence of minute scales on proximal part of dorsal and anal fins (Ref. 126312).

Common Names

No common names available.

Taxonomic Hierarchy

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Teleostei

Order: Cichliformes

Family: Cichlidae

Genus: Haplochromis

Species: Haplochromis kimondo 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