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Haplochromis aureus Vranken, Van Steenberge, Mbalassa & Snoeks, 2023

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Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Cichliformes (Cichlids, convict blennies) > Cichlidae (Cichlids) > Pseudocrenilabrinae
Etymology: Haplochromis: Greek, Haploos = single + Greek, chromis = a fish, perhaps a perch (Ref. 45335);  aureus: Specific name from Latin 'aureus', golden; referring to yellow chest, cheeks, and snout in dominant males and yellow pelvic fins in females (Ref. 128938).

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Freshwater; pelagic. Tropical

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Africa: Lake Edward.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 11.7 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 128938)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 14 - 16; Dorsal soft rays (total): 8 - 10; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 8 - 10; Vertebrae: 30 - 31. Diagnosis: Haplochromis aureus is a species with an acute snout; acutely pointed oral teeth; very broad interorbital area, interorbital width 56.8-66.6% of head width; very short predorsal distance, predorsal distance 31.7-34.4% of standard length; dominant males light blue with yellow snout, cheeks, and chest (Ref. 128938). Small specimens can be mistaken for Haplochromis pappenheimi or H. pelagicus, but differ from both by a deeper body, body depth 30.7-33.5% of standard length vs. 25.4-31.0%; longer upper jaw, upper jaw length 29.3-35.6% of head length vs. 26.5-29.4%; fewer gill rakers, 12-14 vs. 13-18 (Ref. 128938). It resembles H. mentatus in habitus and overlaps slightly in habitat (H. mentatus mostly restricted to littoral regions), differs by a shorter lower jaw, lower jaw length 41.1-46.4% of head length vs. 43.9-51.0%; more and smaller upper outer teeth, upper outer teeth 48-65 vs. 28-46, and dominant males light blue with yellow cheeks and chest vs. uniformly yellow-green with red flanks (Ref. 128938).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Abundant in the upper water layers of deepwater regions (Ref. 128938). It feeds on chaoborids and winged ants; most probably an insectivorous species that catches aquatic and terrestrial insects from the water surface (Ref. 128938).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Kullander, Sven O. | Collaborators

Vranken, N., M. Van Steenberge, M. Mbalassa and J. Snoeks, 2023. Just below the surface, the pelagic haplochromine cichlids from the Lake Edward system. Hydrobiologia 850:3173-3195. (Ref. 128938)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)


CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = No PD50 data   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.4   ±0.4 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low vulnerability (10 of 100).