Description

Dorsal spines (total): 15 - 16; Dorsal soft rays (total): 8 - 10; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 8 - 10; Vertebrae: 29 - 30. Diagnosis: Species with a piscivorous morphology; adult size small, maximum known size 96 mm standard length; outer oral teeth many and small, 39-56; dominant males speckled to uniformly black (Ref. 126312). Amongst piscivorous species from the Lake Edward system, H. pardus differs from all by the combination of a smaller adult size, maximum standard length 96 mm vs. 109-211 mm; and colour pattern of small specimens of less than 100 mm standard length speckled to uniformly black vs. light coloured (Ref. 126312). It further differs from H. latifrons, H. mentatus, H. glaucus, H. kimondo and H. squamipinnis by the combination of a shallower cheek, cheek depth 20.8-24.4% of head length vs. 23.8-36.0%; and a narrower interorbital area, interorbital width 39.3-48.4% of head width vs. 48.6-63.3% (Ref. 126312). It further differs from H. rex, H. simba and H. aquila by the combination of a shallower cheek, cheek depth 20.8-24.4% of head length vs. 26.8-33.5%; smaller outer oral teeth; and a larger number of outer upper jaw teeth, 39-51 vs. 22-37 (Ref. 126312). It further differs from H. falcatus by the combination of weakly recurved vs. strongly recurved outer jaw teeth; a shallower cheek, cheek depth 20.8-24.4% of head length vs. 25.1-28.0%; and a shorter pre-dorsal distance, 34.1-37.8% of standard length vs. 38.2-41.1% (Ref. 126312). It further differs from H. curvidens by the combination of a longer anal-fin base, 19.2-22.2% of standard length vs. 17.9-18.6%; and a slightly narrower interorbital area, interorbital width 39.3-48.4% of head width vs. 46.4-52.5% (Ref. 126312). It further differs from H. quasimodo by the combination of a shallower cheek, cheek depth 20.8-24.4% of head length vs. 23.7-32.9%; and a smaller number of caudal peduncle scales, 16, rarely 17, vs. 17-20, rarely 16 (Ref. 126312).

Common Names

No common names available.

Taxonomic Hierarchy

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Teleostei

Order: Cichliformes

Family: Cichlidae

Genus: Haplochromis

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

Climate Zone

Location

Biology

Found in inshore areas (Ref. 126312). Based on its morphology, most probably a piscivorous species (Ref. 126312).

Habitat

pelagic