Description

Dorsal spines (total): 16 - 17; Dorsal soft rays (total): 10 - 13; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 8 - 10. Diagnosis: A small, laterally spotted haplochromine recognizable by the following combination of characters: spots often indistinct, the suprapectoral spot, when discernible, vaguely rectangular, centered on subdorsal bar 3 or connecting bars 3 and 4, and covering four to five consecutive lateral-line scales, extending vertically from just above lateral midline to half a scale above upper lateral line; about seven vertical gray bars below dorsal-fin base; 34-35 scales in lateral line; 11-13 gill rakers on lower limb; 48-73 teeth in outer row of upper jaw; lower pharyngeal bone with a few posteromedian teeth enlarged, submolariform to molariform; lacrimal bone lacking a notch at base of lacrimal process (Ref. 119408). Otopharynx peridodeka is superficially most similar to O. panniculus, which also lacks a lacrimal notch, but O. peridodeka has more scales in the lateral line, 34-35 vs. 31-33, usually fewer lower gill rakers, 11-13 vs. 13-15, posteromedian pharyngeal teeth distinctly enlarged relatively to more lateral teeth vs. median and lateral teeth of nearly uniform size, averages fewer teeth in the posterior row of the lower pharyngeal bone, 37-44 vs. 42-48, and has a deeper lacrimal bone, 19.9-24.7% of head length vs. 18.1-19.9% (Ref. 119408). Compared to O. aletes, O. peridodeka has the hemijaws in ventral view posteriorly convergent, approximated vs. divergent, distant; and lower pharyngeal bone more lightly built, with narrower posterior horns, posteromedian teeth somewhat enlarged but laterally compressed, cuspidate vs. bone heavier, horns thickened, posterior teeth of median rows enlarged, crowns molarized, nearly hemispherical (Ref. 119408). Trematocranus brevirostris is somewhat similar, but in Otopharynx peridodeka the suprapectoral spot is rectangular, covering four to five longitudinal scales, and is located almost entirely below the upper lateral line vs. taller than long, covering three scales and, at least in the lectotype, placed more above than below the upper lateral line; the cephalic lateral-line system is not enlarged vs. pores and canals of the preorbital, nasal, dentary, and lacrimal bones inflated; and there are 48-73 outer upper-jaw teeth vs. about 43 (Ref. 119408).

Common Names

No common names available.

Taxonomic Hierarchy

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Teleostei

Order: Cichliformes

Family: Cichlidae

Genus: Otopharynx

Species: Otopharynx peridodeka Oliver, 2018

Climate Zone

Location

Biology

Life cycle and mating behavior

Habitat

benthopelagic