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Dorsal spines (total): 15-15; Dorsal soft rays (total): 10-10; Anal spines: 3-3; Anal soft rays: 9-9; Vertebrae: 30-30. Diagnosis: Haplochromis labriformis is a small, moderately slender micrognathic species, with unequally bicuspid teeth, a single inner row in both jaws, and the caudal third part of the premaxilla edentulous (Ref. 95504). Body of the preserved specimen uniformly light brown, without markings (Ref. 95504).
Description: General body shape moderately slender (Ref. 95504). Caudal peduncle relatively broad (Ref. 95504). Dorsal head profile nearly straight; premaxillary pedicel prominence not visible; premaxilla not expanded medially (Ref. 95504). Eye moderately large, circular; dorsal eye margin nearly touching dorsal head profile; pupil slightly elliptical; a small aphakic space anterior to the lens (Ref. 95504). Outer row teeth are relatively short, broad, slightly curved, subequally bicuspid; the major cusp is subequilateral and has a small flange near the cusp gap; cusp gap narrow; minor cusp blunt (Ref. 95504). Dental arcade rounded and U-shaped; the caudal part of the premaxilla is edentulous; there is one inner row in the upper jaw and one inner row in the lower jaw (Ref. 95504). There are 31 teeth in the outer row of the upper jaw and 31 teeth in the outer row of the lower jaw (Ref. 95504). There are 40 pharyngeal teeth in the caudalmost row and 12 and 13 in the medial series (Ref. 95504). Tips of dorsal and anal fin not reaching a vertical through the caudal fin base; caudal fin with 22 rays (Ref. 95504). Scales on cheek, gill cover and nuchal area cycloid; on nape and dorsum the scales are cycloid up to below the sixth dorsal spine where they become weakly ctenoid; from below the tenth spine the scales are fully ctenoid; flank, chest, belly and caudal peduncle with ctenoid scales; caudal fin with single rows of small, elongate ctenoid scales between the rays of the basal fourth part (Ref. 95504). Chest scales smaller than scales on belly and flank, size transition gradual (Ref. 95504). There are 32 lateral line scales, five scales between the lateral line and the dorsal fin origin, five scales between the pectoral and the pelvic fin bases and three horizontal scale rows on the cheek (Ref. 95504).
Colouration: There are no data available on the live colouration of the species. The preserved specimen is uniformly light brownish except for faint remains of an opercular blotch (Ref. 95504). |