Description

Dorsal spines (total): 17; Dorsal soft rays (total): 10; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 9. Diagnosis: Hemitaeniochromis brachyrhynchus is readily distinguished from its formal congener H. urotaenia, by its narrow lacrimal bone whose width, at the midpoint of the bone, is one-third of the orbit length, vs. nearly equal to the orbit length in H. urotaenia; by its snout being shorter than the orbit length, vs. longer in H. urotaenia; by its much larger eyes, the orbit length being about 36-38% of head length, vs. 22-28% in H. urotaenia; by its shorter lower jaw which is about 39-41% of head length, vs. 45-51% in H. urotaenia; and by its melanin pattern, which is composed of spots and line segments that are less well-defined than those of H. urotaenia (Ref. 91204). The narrow lacrimal and large eyes also distinguish H. brachyrhynchus from all other species that have sometimes been placed in Hemitaeniochromis (Ref. 91204).

Common Names

No common names available.

Taxonomic Hierarchy

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Teleostei

Order: Cichliformes

Family: Cichlidae

Genus: Hemitaeniochromis

Species: Hemitaeniochromis brachyrhynchus Oliver, 2012

Climate Zone

Location

Biology

The distinctive lower-jaw teeth, with their outwardly and anteriorly angled crowns are similar to those of other haplochromine cichlids that have a paedophagous diet (Ref. 91204). The conservation status is unknown; it may normally inhabit deeper water than has generally been sampled over rocky substrates; and the widely separated localities of the two type specimens at least demonstrate that the species is not restricted to a single circumscribed area (Ref. 91204).

Habitat

pelagic