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Haplochromis falcatus Vranken, Van Steenberge, Heylen, Decru & Snoeks, 2022

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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);  falcatus: Specific name from the Latin 'falcatus' for 'sickle-shaped'; referring to acutely pointed sickle-like outer oral teeth (Ref. 126312).

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 (Ref. 126312).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 13.7 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 126312)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 14 - 16; Dorsal soft rays (total): 9 - 10; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 8 - 10; Vertebrae: 28 - 30. Diagnosis: Species with a piscivorous morphology; outer oral teeth many, small, and strongly recurved, 39-51; dominant males olive-green with an orange-red anterior part of flank and well-defined mid-lateral and dorsal-lateral bands (Ref. 126312). Amongst piscivorous species from the Lake Edward system, Haplochromis falcatus differs from all except H. curvidens by strongly recurved vs. straight to weakly recurved outer jaw teeth (Ref. 126312). It further differs from H. latifrons, H. rex, H. simba and H. aquila by the combination of smaller outer oral teeth and a larger number of outer upper jaw teeth, 39-51 vs. 22-42; further from H. latifrons, H. rex and H. simba by a shallower lacrimal, lacrimal depth 16.1-18.8% of head length vs. 18.7-23.0%; further from H. rex, H. simba and H. aquila by presence vs. absence of well-defined mid-lateral and dorsal-lateral bands; and dominant males uniformly olive-green with an orange-red anterior part of flank vs. cream-coloured with an orange operculum and light blue snout, uniformly yellow with an orange anterior part of flank, or light grey with a black head, respectively (Ref. 126312). It further differs from H. mentatus and H. glaucus by the combination of a longer pre-dorsal distance, 36.9-41.1% of standard length vs. 33.3-37.0%; a gentler lower jaw side, 15-25° vs. 30-45°; and presence vs. absence of well-defined mid-lateral and dorsal-lateral bands; further from H. mentatus by a longer head, head length 36.6-39.6% of standard length vs. 33.4-37.0%; further from H. glaucus by dominant males olive-green with an orange-red anterior part of flank vs. uniformly light blue (Ref. 126312). It further differs from H. kimondo by the combination of an oval vs. pyriform body; a straight vs. convex dorsal outline of head; shallower cheeks, cheek depth 23.3-27.4% of head length vs. 27.1-35.2%; narrower jaws, lower jaw width 40.2-45.6% of lower jaw length vs. 44.7-53.3%; and dominant males olive-green with an orange-red anterior part of flank vs. grey dorsally and yellow ventrally (Ref. 126312). It differs from H. curvidens and further differs from H. pardus by the combination of a deeper cheek, cheek depth 25.1-28.0% of head length vs. 20.8-24.9%; and a longer pre-dorsal distance, 38.2-41.1% of standard length vs. 34.1-37.9%; further from H. curvidens by presence vs. absence of well-defined mid-lateral and dorsal-lateral bands; further from H. pardus by larger adult size, maximum size 137 mm vs. 96 mm standard length; and colour pattern of small specimens less than 100 mm standard length light coloured vs. speckled to uniformly black (Ref. 126312). It further differs from H. quasimodo and H. squamipinnis by the combination of a longer head, head length 36.6-39.6% of standard length vs. 33.9-37.2%; a shorter pelvic fin, pelvic fin length 21.6-25.7% of standard length vs. 25.2-35.4%; and dominant males olive-green with an orange-red anterior part of flank vs. light grey dorsally and blue-black ventrally or slate blue, respectively; further from H. squamipinnis by absence vs. presence of minute scales on proximal parts of dorsal and anal fin (Ref. 126312).

Decsription: boby shallow and oval (Ref. 126312). Head very long, narrow, and with a straight dorsal outline; eye small; interorbital area narrow; cheek and lacrimal average in depth (Ref. 126312). Snout long, acute, and slopes gently at 35-45°; premaxillary pedicel long and strongly prominent; jaws isognathous to slightly prognathous, long, slim, narrow, and rounded in dorsal view; gape large and slopes gently at 20-30°; maxilla extends to vertical through pupil; lower jaw shallow and with a straight ventral outline in lateral view, mental prominence absent, and lower jaw side nearly flat with an inclination of 15-25° to horizontal in anterior view; lower jaw expands slightly laterally halfway its length; upper jaw weakly expanded anteriorly; lips and oral mucosa large (Ref. 126312). Neurocranium shallow, ethmo-vomerine block decurved, preorbital region very shallow, 18-22% of neurocranium length, orbital region shallow, 28-30% of neurocranium length, and supraoccipital crest average in depth and wedge-shaped (Ref. 126312). Outer oral teeth numerous, unicuspid, and relatively small; necks stout, conical, and recurved; crowns recurved to strongly recurved, and acutely pointed; dental arcades rounded, and with anterior half expanded laterally; outer teeth closely and regularly set with neck-distances of 1/2-1 neck-width; no enlarged teeth posterior in upper jaw; inner teeth small, strongly recurved, unicuspid, and acutely pointed; tooth bands very slender crescent-shaped with 1-2 rows of inner teeth, and narrow posteriorly until only outer row remains past 2/3 lengths of tooth bands; inner teeth closely and regularly set on 1/2-1 neck-width from outer row in lower jaw, on 1-2 neck-widths from outer row in upper jaw; implantation recumbent; size uniform throughout tooth band (Ref. 126312). Lower pharyngeal bone average in length, triangular, slim, and shallow with a slightly deeper keel; pharyngeal teeth relatively large and slender; major cusps acutely pointed; cusp gaps straight; minor cusps and cusp protuberances very small; teeth in two median longitudinal rows equal in size and form to lateral teeth, 10 in each row; posterior transverse row with 16-21 teeth, implanted erectly with a lateral inclination; major cusps weakly recurved, bluntly pointed, and laterally compressed; minor cusps mostly absent (Ref. 126312). Chest scales small; transition to larger flank scales gradual; minute scales on proximal half of caudal fin; scales on longitudinal line 29-34, scales on upper lateral line 20-23, scales on lower lateral line 9-14, scales between dorsal fin and upper lateral line 6-8, scales between upper lateral line and anal fin 11-14, scales around caudal peduncle 17-19, scales between pelvic and pectoral fins 6-8, infraorbital cheek scales 3-5, postorbital cheek scales 8-12 (Ref. 126312). Caudal fin subtruncate; dorsal and anal fins reach to vertical through caudal-fin base; pectoral fin reaches to between genital opening and first anal-fin spine; pelvic fin reaches to between genital opening and first anal-fin spine in females, to first anal fin branched ray in males; first branched pelvic-fin ray elongated in dominant males (Ref. 126312). Ceratobranchial gill rakers in outer row of first gill arch very short, stout, and simple; posteriormost rakers weakly anvil-shaped; epibranchial gill rakers relatively slender and simple (Ref. 126312).

Colouration: Colouration in life of dominant males: body olive-green with yellow sheen; anterior part of flank and operculum bright orange-red; belly and chest speckled black; cheek olive-green with red sheen; snout and lips dusky; lower lip with blue sheen; branchiostegal membrane black; eye with dark silver outer ring and silver to golden inner ring; flank with well-defined mid-lateral and dorsal-lateral bands; dorsum with 5-7 faint vertical stripes between dorsal-fin base and dorsal-lateral band; lacrimal, nostril, and interorbital stripes and a mental blotch well defined; supraorbital stripe and nape band faint; pectoral fin hyaline; pelvic fin black; dorsal fin dusky and with black lappets; anal fin faint orange-red and with dusky base and posterior part, and 3 small yellow egg spots with hyaline rings; caudal fin with dusky base and hyaline distal part (Ref. 126312). Non-dominant males similar to dominant males except for white belly and chest and faint orange-red antero-dorsal part of flank above mid-lateral band (Ref. 126312). Colouration in life of females and juveniles: body, operculum, cheek, and lacrimal olive-green yellow; belly, chest, and lower jaw white; eye with dark silver outer ring and silver to golden inner ring; flank with well-defined mid-lateral and dorsal-lateral bands; dorsum with 5-7 faint vertical stripes between dorsal-fin base and dorsal-lateral band; lacrimal, nostril, and interorbital stripes and a mental blotch well defined; supraorbital stripe and nape band faint; pectoral and pelvic fins yellowish; dorsal fin dusky and with black lappets; anal fin yellow and with 2-3 small spots resembling egg spots; caudal fin dusky (Ref. 126312). Preserved colouration: dorsal part of body brown; ventral part of body yellowish to white in females; chest and belly speckled black in dominant males; cheek yellowish and snout dusky; flank with well-defined mid-lateral and dorsal-lateral bands; dorsum with 5-7 faint vertical stripes between dorsal-fin base and dorsal-lateral band; lacrimal, nostril, and interorbital stripes and a mental blotch well defined; supraorbital stripe and nape band faint; pectoral fin dusky; pelvic fin dusky in females, black in dominant males; dorsal fin dusky and with black lappets; anal fin with dusky base and posterior part, yellowish distal part, and 1-3 small egg spots; caudal fin dusky and faintly maculated in dorsal part (Ref. 126312).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Found over sandy substrates (Ref. 126312). Based on its morphology, most probably a piscivorous species (Ref. 126312).

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, A. Heylen, E. Decru and J. Snoeks, 2022. From a pair to a dozen: the piscivorous species of Haplochromis (Cichlidae) from the Lake Edward system. Eur. J. Taxon. 815:1-94. (Ref. 126312)

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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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 | Zoobank | 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).