Diagnosis: Species with a piscivorous morphology; adult size small, maximum known size 96 mm standard length; outer oral teeth many and small, 39-56; dominant males speckled to uniformly black (Ref. 126312). Amongst piscivorous species from the Lake Edward system, H. pardus differs from all by the combination of a smaller adult size, maximum standard length 96 mm vs. 109-211 mm; and colour pattern of small specimens of less than 100 mm standard length speckled to uniformly black vs. light coloured (Ref. 126312). It further differs from H. latifrons, H. mentatus, H. glaucus, H. kimondo and H. squamipinnis by the combination of a shallower cheek, cheek depth 20.8-24.4% of head length vs. 23.8-36.0%; and a narrower interorbital area, interorbital width 39.3-48.4% of head width vs. 48.6-63.3% (Ref. 126312). It further differs from H. rex, H. simba and H. aquila by the combination of a shallower cheek, cheek depth 20.8-24.4% of head length vs. 26.8-33.5%; smaller outer oral teeth; and a larger number of outer upper jaw teeth, 39-51 vs. 22-37 (Ref. 126312). It further differs from H. falcatus by the combination of weakly recurved vs. strongly recurved outer jaw teeth; a shallower cheek, cheek depth 20.8-24.4% of head length vs. 25.1-28.0%; and a shorter pre-dorsal distance, 34.1-37.8% of standard length vs. 38.2-41.1% (Ref. 126312). It further differs from H. curvidens by the combination of a longer anal-fin base, 19.2-22.2% of standard length vs. 17.9-18.6%; and a slightly narrower interorbital area, interorbital width 39.3-48.4% of head width vs. 46.4-52.5% (Ref. 126312). It further differs from H. quasimodo by the combination of a shallower cheek, cheek depth 20.8-24.4% of head length vs. 23.7-32.9%; and a smaller number of caudal peduncle scales, 16, rarely 17, vs. 17-20, rarely 16 (Ref. 126312).

Description: Body shallow and oval to slightly rhomboid (Ref. 126312). Head narrow, shallow, and with a straight dorsal outline with a concavity above eye; eye average in sizein comparison to generalised H. elegans, but large for a piscivorous species; interorbital area very narrow; cheek shallow; lacrimal average in depth (Ref. 126312). Snout avreage in length, very acute, and slopes gently at 30-40°; premaxillary pedicel long and prominent; jaws isognathous to slightly prognathous, average in length, narrow, and rounded in dorsal view; gape large and slopes gently at 15-25°; maxilla extends to between verticals through anterior margins of orbit and pupil; lower jaw shallow and with straight ventral outline in lateral view, mental prominence absent, and lower jaw side nearly flat with an inclination of 15-30° to horizontal in anterior view; upper jaw weakly expanded anteriorly and ventrally; lips and oral mucosa large (Ref. 126312). Neurocranium average in depth, ethmo-vomerine block decurved, preorbital region very shallow, 18-22% of neurocranium length, orbital region average in depth, 30-33% of neurocranium length, and supraoccipital crest shallow and wedge-shaped (Ref. 126312). Outer oral teeth numerous, small, and weakly embedded in oral mucosa; necks stout, cylindrical, and straight; crowns weakly recurved, unicuspid in large specimens of more than 80 mm standard length, bicuspid with posteriorly some weakly tricuspid teeth in small specimens smaller than 70 mm standard length, and acutely pointed in all specimens; dental arcades rounded and with anterior half weakly expanded laterally; outer teeth closely and regularly set with neck-distances of 1/2 neck-width; lateral outer teeth implanted slightly labially; in upper jaw, 1-3 posteriormost teeth enlarged; inner teeth small, recurved, unicuspid in large specimens of more than 80 mm standard length, tricuspid in small specimens of less than 70 mm standard length, and acutely pointed in all specimens; tooth bands very slender crescent-shaped with 2, rarely 3, rows of inner teeth, and narrow posteriorly until only outer row remains past 2/3 length of tooth band; inner rows closely and regularly set on 1 neck-width from outer row in lower jaw, on 1-2 neck-widths from outer row in upper jaw; implantation erect in first row and recumbent in subsequent rows; size uniform throughout tooth band (Ref. 126312). Lower pharyngeal bone average in length, narrow, slim, and shallow over entire length; pharyngeal teeth small and slender; major cusps acutely pointed; cusp gaps nearly straight; minor cusps and cusp protuberances small; teeth in two median longitudinal rows equal in size and form to lateral teeth, 11-12 in each row; posterior transverse row with 22 teeth, implanted erectly with a slight lateral inclination; major cusps weakly recurved, bluntly pointed, and laterally compressed; minor cusps mostly present (Ref. 126312). Chest scales small; transition to larger flank scales gradual; minute scales on proximal half of caudal fin; scales on longitudinal line 31-34, scales on upper lateral line 20-23, scales on lower lateral line 10-14, scales between dorsal fin and upper lateral line 5-7, scales between upper lateral line and anal fin 10-11, scales around caudal peduncle 16-17, scales between pectoral and pelvic fins 5-7, infraorbital cheek scales 2-4, postorbital cheek scales 9-10 (Ref. 126312). Caudal fin emarginate; dorsal and anal fins reach to between verticales through one scale anterior and one scale posterior to caudal-fin base; pectoral and pelvic fins reach to genital opening; pelvic fin reaches to first anal-fin spine in males; first branched pelvic-fin ray not elongated (Ref. 126312). Ceratobranchial gill rakers in outer row of first gill arch short, stout, and simple; posteriormost rakers mostly weakly bifid; epibranchial gill rakers relatively slender and simple (Ref. 126312).

Colouration: Colouration in life of dominant males: body speckled to uniformly black with a blue sheen; dorsum and dorsal part of head pink to speckled black; chest white; belly, caudal peduncle, operculum, lower jaw, and lips black; cheek, lacrimal, and snout speckled to uniformly black, cheek with yellow sheen; eye with grey to dark outer ring and silver to dark inner ring; flank with dorsal-lateral and mid-lateral bands and 5-6 vertical stripes, all black, broad, well-defined, but interrupted, hereby body seemingly blotched; nostril, interorbital, supraorbital, lacrimal, vertical preopercular stripes, nape band, mental blotch, and black posterior margin of operculum well-defined; pectoral, dorsal, and anal fins dusky; lappets, bases, and posterior parts of anal and dorsal fins black; anal fin wit faint crimson flush and 1-3 small orange egg-spots with dusky rings; pelvic and caudal fins black; caudal fin with dusky distal part and a faint crimson flush (Ref. 126312). Colouration in life of females and juveniles: body yellowish with a dusky sheen; dorsum and dorsal part of head pink; belly, chest, operculum, and cheek, white; lacrimal speckled black; snout dusky to black; eye with grey to dark outer ring and silver to dark inner ring; flank with dorsal-lateral and mid-lateral bands and 5-6 vertical stripes, all faint and interrupted; nostril and interorbital stripes faint; supraorbital, lacrimal, vertical preopercular stripes, mental blotch, and nape band well-defined; pectoral, pelvic, and dorsal fins dusky; anal and caudal fins dusky with yellow sheen; dorsal and anal fins with black lappets and posterodistal part; caudal fin with black base and 1-2 small spots resembling egg-spots (Ref. 126312). Preserved colouration: in all specimens, dorsal part of body dark brown to speckled black; ventral part of body dark brown to uniformly black; belly black; chest whitish; flank with faint to well-defined, broad, but interrupted mid-lateral, dorsal-lateral, and dorsal-medial bands and 5-6 vertical stripes; snout dusky; lips dusky with well-defined black spots; cheek yellowish to black; operculum black; nostril, interorbital, supraorbital, lacrimal, vertical preopercular stripes, nape band, mental blotch, and black posterior margin of operculum well-defined; pectoral, dorsal, and anal fins dusky; lappets, bases, and posterior parts of anal and dorsal fins black; anal fin with 1-3 egg-spots; pelvic and caudal fins dusky to black; caudal fin with blackish distal part (Ref. 126312).