Morphology Data of Haplochromis latifrons
Identification keys
Abnormalities
Main Ref. Vranken, N., M. Van Steenberge, A. Heylen, E. Decru and J. Snoeks, 2022
Appearance refers to
Bones in OsteoBase

Sex attributes

Specialized organs
Different appearance
Different colors
Remarks

Descriptive characteristics of juvenile and adult

Striking features
Body shape lateral
Cross section
Dorsal head profile
Type of eyes
Type of mouth/snout
Position of mouth
Type of scales
Diagnosis

Diagnosis: Species with a piscivorous morphology; body very shallow, its body depth 27.2-30.1% of standard length; interorbital area flat and broad, interorbital width 57.4-63.3% of head width; outer oral teeth few and large, number of upper outer teeth 24-42; females green dorsally, white ventrally, and with a well-defined mid-lateral band; dominant male colour pattern unknown (Ref. 126312). Amongst piscivorous species from the Lake Edward system, Haplochromis latifrons differs from all, except H. mentatus and H. kimondo, by the combination of a broader interorbital area, interorbital width 57.4-63.3% of head width vs. 39.3-57.1%; a shorter anal fin base, anal fin base 14.7-17.3% of standard length vs. 17.1-22.2%; and a smallernumber of branched anal-fin rays, 7-8 vs. 9-11, rarely 8 (Ref. 126312). It differs from H. mentatus by the combination of a shorter dorsal-fin base, dorsal-fin base 47.2-50.1% of standard length vs. 50.3-54.2%; a strongly vs. weakly prominent premaxillary pedicel; a gentler sloping lower jaw side, 25-30° vs. 30-45°; juveniles and females green dorsally and white ventrally vs. uniformly yellow-green; and presence vs. absence of a well-defined mid-lateral band (Ref. 126312). It differs from H. kimondo by the combination of large vs. small outer oral teeth; a smaller number of outer upper jaw teeth, 24-42 vs. 43-70; and a shorter anal-fin base, anal-fin base 14.7-17.3% of standard length vs. 17.0-19.2% (Ref. 126312).

Description: Body very shallow and oval to pyriform; caudal peduncle long (Ref. 126312). Head narrow, dorsally flat, and with straight dorsal outline; interorbital area flat and average in width in comparison to generalised Haplochromis elegans, but very broad for a piscivorous species; eye very small and high on head; cheek and lacrimal deep; snout very long, acute, and slopes gently at 30-40°; premaxillary pedicel long and strongly prominent (Ref. 126312). Jaws isognathous, long, stout, very narrow, and rounded in dorsal view; gape large and slopes gently at 15-25°; maxilla (almost) extends to vertical through anterior margin of orbit; lower jaw relatively deep and with a weakly convex ventral outline in lateral view, mental prominence absent or weakly developed, and lower jaw side nearly flat with an inclination of 25-30° to horizontal in anterior view; upper jaw expanded anteriorly; lips and oral mucosa large (Ref. 126312). Neurocranium shallow, ethmo-vomerine block decurved, preorbital region very shallow, 19-21% of neurocranium length, orbital region shallow, 27-32% of neurocranium length, and supraoccipital crest very shallow and pyramidical or wedge-shaped (Ref. 126312). Outer oral teeth few, unicuspid, and large; necks stout, conical, and straight; crowns recurved and acutely pointed; dental arcades rounded; outer teeth widely and very irregularly set with neck-distances of 1-5 neck-widths; in upper jaw, 2-3 posteriormost teeth enlarged; inner teeth relatively large, recurved, unicuspid in large specimens larger than 75 mm standard length, tricuspid in small specimens less than 75 mm standard length; tooth bands very slender crescent-shaped with 1-3 rows of inner teeth and narrow posteriorly until only outer row remains past 2/3 length of tooth band in upper jaw, past 1/2 length of tooth band in lower jaw; inner teeth widely and irregularly set on 1/2-1 outer neck-width from outer row; implantation erect in first row and recumbent in subsequent rows; size decreases slightly buccally and posteriorly (Ref. 126312). Lower pharyngeal bone long, narrow, slim, and shallow over entire length; pharyngeal teeth relatively large and slender; major cusps acutely pointed; cusp gaps concave; minor cusps and cusp protuberances very small; teeth in two median longitudinal rows equal in size and form to lateral teeth, about 10 in each row; posterior transverse row with 15-16 teeth, implanted recumbently with lateral inclination; major cusps recurved, bluntly pointed, and laterally compressed; minor cusps small (Ref. 126312). Chest scales small; transition to larger flank scales gradual; minute scales on proximal half of caudal fin; 33-34 scales on longitudinal line, 23-23 upper lateral line scales, 9-12 lower lateral line scales; 17-19 caudal peduncle scales; 6-7 scales between pectoral and pelvic fins; 4-5 infraorbital cheek scales, 9-12 postorbital cheek scales (Ref. 126312). Caudal fin emarginate; dorsal and anal fins reach to vertical through 2-4 scales anterior to caudal-fin base; pectoral and pelvic fins reach to just anterior to genital opening in females, unknown in males; first branched pelvic-fin ray slightly elongated in all specimens (Ref. 126312). Ceratobranchial gill rakers in outer row of first gill arch short, stout, and simple; posteriormost rakers simple to trifid or anvil-shaped; epibranchial gill rakers slender and simple (Ref. 126312).

Colouration: Colouration in life: colour pattern of dominant males unknown (Ref. 126312). Females and juveniles: dorsal parts of body and operculum olive-green; ventral parts of body and operculum white; abrupt transition at height of lower lateral line; flank with a well-defined black mid-lateral band from posterior margin of eye to caudal-fin base; dorsum with a blue sheen; cheek and lower jaw white; lacrimal, snout, and lips dusky olive-green; eye with dark grey outer ring and golden inner ring; nostril and interorbital stripes faint; lacrimal blotch large anteroventrally of eye; pectoral fin yellowish; pelvic fin hyaline with a greenish sheen; dorsal and caudal fins uniformly dusky, dorsal fin with black lappets; anal fin with a hyaline-white base, a dusky-yellow distal part, and 1-2 small spots resembling egg-spots (Ref. 126312). Preserved colourartion of females and juveniles: dorsal part of body brown; ventral part of body, cheek, and lower jaw white; lacrimal, snout and lips dusky; flank with a mid-lateral band from posterior margin of eye to caudal-fin base; nostril and interorbital stripes faint, lacrimal blotch present; pectoral fin hyaline; pelvic fin white; dorsal and caudal fins uniformly dusky, dorsal fin with black lappets; anal fin with a white base and dusky distally (Ref. 126312).

Ease of Identification

Meristic characteristics of Haplochromis latifrons

Lateral Lines Interrupted: No
Scales on lateral line
Pored lateral line scales
Scales in lateral series 33 - 34
Scale rows above lateral line
Scale rows below lateral line
Scales around caudal peduncle 17 - 19
Barbels
Gill clefts (sharks/rays only)
Gill rakers
on lower limb 8 - 11
on upper limb 2 - 4
total 11 - 15
Vertebrae
preanal
total 30 - 30

Fins

Dorsal fin(s)

Attributes no striking attributes
Fins number 1
Finlets No. Dorsal   
Ventral  
Spines total 15 - 16
Soft-rays total 9 - 10
Adipose fin absent

Caudal fin

Attributes more or less truncate; more or less normal

Anal fin(s)

Fins number 1
Spines total 3 - 3
Soft-rays total 7 - 8

Paired fins

Pectoral Attributes  more or less normal
Spines     0
Soft-rays   12 - 13
Pelvics Attributes  more or less normal
Position    thoracic  behind origin of D1
Spines     
Soft-rays   
Main Ref. (e.g. 9948)
Glossary ( e.g. cephalopods )
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