Haplochromis nigricans

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Haplochromis nigricans
Haplochromis nigricans, drawing from The fishes of the Nile by George Albert Boulenger

Haplochromis nigricans , drawing from The fishes of the Nile by George Albert Boulenger

Systematics
Order : Cichliformes
Family : Cichlids (Cichlidae)
Subfamily : Pseudocrenilabrinae
Tribe : Haplochromini
Genre : Haplochromis
Type : Haplochromis nigricans
Scientific name
Haplochromis nigricans
( Boulenger , 1906)

Haplochromis nigricans ( Syn .: Neochromis nigricans ) is aspecies of fish from the cichlid family thatis endemic to the East African Lake Victoria .

features

Haplochromis nigricans becomes about ten centimeters long and is relatively high back. The body height is 34 to 38.4% of the standard length . The snout, in fish the region from the front edge of the eye to the tip of the terminal mouth, is relatively short, the eyes are large. The mouth is covered with wide tooth ligaments. The scales on the back of the head and chest are larger than on the rest of the body.

Males are black with a metallic blue sheen. The muzzle, lips, the area between the eyes, cheeks and gill covers are blue. The anal fin is crimson with yellow egg spots. The caudal fin is also crimson, the pelvic fins are black. Females are olive in color with a golden-yellow tinge on the gill covers and throat. The dorsal and anal fins and the pelvic fins are dark yellow, the caudal fin is gray-green. On the sides of the body they show seven to eight fairly broad transverse ligaments.

Compared to the closely related species Haplochromis simotes , Haplochromis nigricans has a taller body (38.4% of the standard length vs. 34.0-35.7), a shorter one (26.9% of the head length vs. 30.8-32.5 ) and a narrower snout (31.7% KL vs. 35.4-37.7), larger eyes (30.9% KL vs. 27.1-28.7) and a shorter (30.1% KL vs. 30.8-33.1) and narrower (27.7-% KL vs. 32.8-34.4) lower jaws.

Way of life

Haplochromis nigricans is only known from a single specimen from the north of the lake, which was caught on the north shore of Lake Victoria near Entebbe . In 1956, the British ichthyologist Greenwood examined the stomach contents of a cichlid, which he identified as Haplochromis nigricans , and found mainly diatoms . However, it is not certain whether the examined specimen is actually Haplochromis nigricans . Haplochromis nigricans probably lives on the rocky shores of Lake Victoria and, like all Haplochromis species, is a mouthbrooder .

source

  • Seehausen, Ole; Lippitsch, E; Bouton, N; Zwennes, H (1998). Mbipi, the rock-dwelling cichlids of Lake Victoria: description of three new genera and fifteen new species (Teleostei). Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters, 9 (2), pp. 129-228. Publishing house Dr. Friedrich Pfeil, pages 152–155.

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