Classification / Names
Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa
Teleostei (teleosts) >
Cichliformes (Cichlids, convict blennies) >
Cichlidae (Cichlids) > Pseudocrenilabrinae
Etymology: Hemitaeniochromis: Greek, hemi = half + Latin, taenia, -ae = strip + Greek, chromis = a fish, perhaps a perch (Ref. 45335); brachyrhynchus: Latinized from the Greek adjective βραχύσ, short, and noun ρύγχοσ, snout, in reference to the abbreviated preocular region of the head; brachyrhynchus is a noun in apposition (Ref. 91204).
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Freshwater; pelagic. Tropical
Africa: Lake Malawi (Ref. 91204).
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 124 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 91204)
Short description
Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics
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).
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).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Oliver, M.K., 2012. Hemitaenichromis brachyrhynchus, a new species of cichlid fish from Lake Malaŵi, with comments on some other supposed members of the genus (Teleostei: Cichlidae). Zootaxa 3410:35-50. (Ref. 91204)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-2)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: of no interest
Tools
Special reports
Download XML
Internet sources
Estimates based on models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 0.7500 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01000 (0.00244 - 0.04107), b=3.04 (2.81 - 3.27), in cm total length, based on all LWR estimates for this body shape (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 3.8 ±0.5 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Resilience (Ref.
120179): Very Low, minimum population doubling time more than 14 years (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Very high vulnerability (90 of 100).
