Haplochromis nigricans (Boulenger, 1906)
Description
Dorsal spines (total): 15 - 16; Dorsal soft rays (total): 10 - 9; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 9; Vertebrae: 29. Moderately convex dorsal head profile, short snout, terminal mouth and broad bands of contiguously set teeth. Distinguished from males of all species of Neochromis by having enlarged cephalic pores, and large scales on the lateral chest surface, gradually changing to small ones only at the level of the ventral fin insertions. Differs further from N. simotes by having a deeper body (38.4% SL vs. 34.0-35.7), a shorter (26.9% HL vs. 30.8-32.5) and narrower (31.7% HL vs. 35.4-37.7) snout, smaller preorbital depth (14.9% HL vs. 16.8-18.7); larger eyes (30.9% HL vs. 27.1-28.7), a shorter (30.1% HL vs. 30.8-33.1) and narrower (27.7-% HL vs. 32.8-34.4) lower jaw, subequally bicuspid crowns to the teeth in the outer rows, fewer inner tooth rows in both jaws (5), larger scales on the occiput, cycloid scales on the caudal part of the dorsum, larger scales on the chest, and the lack of small cycloid scales on the anal/genital region (Ref. 27668).
Common Names
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Teleostei
Order: Cichliformes
Family: Cichlidae
Genus: Haplochromis
Species: Haplochromis nigricans (Boulenger, 1906)
Climate Zone
Location
Biology
Inhabits rocky and shallow areas of the littoral zone (Ref. 4983). In the lake H. nigricans has been observed to graze on algae from rock surfaces (Ref. 558).
Habitat
benthopelagic