Haplochromis squamipinnis Regan, 1921
Description
Dorsal spines (total): 15 - 16; Dorsal soft rays (total): 8 - 10; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 9 - 11; Vertebrae: 29 - 30. Diagnosis: Species with a piscivorous morphology; body rather deep, body depth 32.4-39.3% of standard length; oral jaws very long, lower jaw length 47.8-58.6% of head length, narrow, lower jaw width 32.6-44.7% of lower jaw length, and steep, gape inclination 30-45°; outer oral teeth many and small, 39-79; dominant males slate blue (Ref. 126312). Amongst piscivorous species from the Lake Edward system, Haplochromis squamipinnis differs from all by presence vs. absence of minute scales on proximal part of dorsal fin, rarely few scales present in H. quasimodo (Ref. 126312). It further differs from H. latifrons and H. mentatus by the combination of small vs. large outer oral teeth, a larger number of outer uppr jaw teeth, 39-79 vs. 22-47; a steeper gape, 30-45° vs. 15-30°; and a deeper body, body depth 32.4-39.3% of standard length vs. 27.2-32.3%; from H. mentatus by dominant males uniformly slate blue vs. yellow-green with a red anterior part of flank (Ref. 126312). It further differs from H. rex, H. simba, H. glaucus and H. aquila by the combination of small vs. large outer oral teeth, a larger number of outer upper jaw teeth, 39-79 vs. 22-47; and dominant males uniformly slate blue vs. cream-coloured with an orange operculum, yellow with an orange anterior part of flank, light blue with a dusky to black head, or light grey with a black head, respectively; further from H. rex, H. simba and H. glaucus by a steeper gape, 30-45° vs. 15-30°; further from H. aquila by a smaller eye, eye diameter 23.1-29.7% of head length vs. 30.0-31.5% (Ref. 126312). It further differs from H. kimondo by a concave to straight vs. convex dorsal outline of head, a gentler snout inclination, 30-40° vs. 40-50°, and dominant males slate blue vs. grey dorsally and yellow ventrally; further from H. falcatus by a shorter head, head length 35.1-36.9% of standard length vs. 36.6-39.6%, and dominant males slate blue vs. olve-green with an orange-red anterior part of flank; further from H. curvidens and H. pardus by a deeper cheek, cheek depth 24.9-36.0% of head length vs. 20.8-24.9%; further from H. pardus by a larger adult size, maximum size 211 mm standard length vs. 96 mm, and colour pattern of small specimens less than 100 mm standard length light coloured vs. speckled to uniformly black (Ref. 126312). It differs from H. quasimodo by the combination of a broader interorbital area, interorbital width 48.6-55.6% of head width vs. 40.5-48.7%; a longer lower jaw, lower jaw length 47.8-58.6% of head length vs. 44.2-49.6%; a steeper gape inclination, 30-45° vs. 20-35°; and dominant males slate blue vs. light grey dorsally and blue-black ventrally (Ref. 126312).
Common Names
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Teleostei
Order: Cichliformes
Family: Cichlidae
Genus: Haplochromis
Species: Haplochromis squamipinnis Regan, 1921
Climate Zone
Location
Biology
Found in offshore benthic areas in mostly shallow and deep waters over muddy substrates (Ref. 4983, 126312). With a piscivorous diet (Ref. 558, 126312); insects contribute substantially to the diet of small Haplochromis squamipinnis (Ref. 558).
Habitat
benthopelagic