Haplochromis bwathondii : fisheries

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Haplochromis bwathondii Niemantsverdriet & Witte, 2010

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drawing shows typical species in Cichlidae.

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);  bwathondii: This species is named in honour of Prof. Dr. Philip O.J. Bwathondi, Director General of the Tanzania Fisheries Research Institute (TAFIRI) from August 1983 until the end of 2006; during this period Prof. Bwathondi supported the research of the Haplochromis Ecology Survey Team (HEST) in many ways (Ref. 85523).

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Freshwater; pelagic. Tropical

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Africa: Lake Victoria (Ref. 85523).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 8.2 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 85523)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Vertebrae: 28 - 30. Diagnosis: Haplochromis bwathondii is a small sized (less than 9 cm standard length), micrognathic species with a normal to relatively slender body outline, body depth 29.7-35.7% of standard length; with bicuspid and tricuspid teeth in the oral jaws and a moderately curved dorsal head profile; it has a melanin pattern of dusky, interrupted, longitudinal bands and vertical bars, producing a so-called 'chess board pattern'; this pattern also occurs in several oral shelling molluscivores, insectivores and algae scrapers, but these species generally are larger, have a strongly curved dorsal head profile and a lower jaw length/width ratio of less than 1.5, whereas in H. bwathondii it ranges from 2.0 to 2.8 (Ref. 85523). Haplochromis bwathondii differs from other small species with a 'chess board pattern' and a lower jaw length/width ratio of more than 1.5, H. sphex and H. sauvagei, in live colouration of sexually active males, by having red in the rostral part of the body; further, it differs from H. sphex by having a deeper body and a larger eye (Ref. 85523). On first impression the colours of sexually active males of H. bwathondii and H. sauvagei look alike; however males of H. bwathondii have a less distinct 'chess board pattern', are less yellow and have a silvery iridescent area on each scale, giving them a silvery appearance; furthermore H. bwathondii has a larger eye, thinner lips, a narrower lower jaw and less stout teeth with a relatively larger flange than H. sauvagei (Ref. 85523).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Found in the sub-littoral areas of the Mwanza Gulf, over mud bottoms; it is a mainly pelagic species (Ref. 85523). Before the ecological changes in Lake Victoria, this species fed mainly on Cyanophyta, both during day and night; Aulacoseira and occasionally other small diatoms such as Nitzschia were also consumed, as well as adult insects and insect pupae from the water surface (Ref. 85523). This species is a female mouth brooder that spawns the whole year (Ref. 85523).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

This species is a female mouth brooder that spawns the whole year (Ref. 85523).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Kullander, Sven O. | Collaborators

de Zeeuw, M.P., M. Mietes, P. Niemantsverdriet, S. ter Huurne and F. Witte, 2010. Seven new species of detritivorous and phytoplanktivorous haplochromines from Lake Victoria. Zool. Meded. Leiden 84:201-250. (Ref. 85523)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Vulnerable (VU) (D2); Date assessed: 31 March 2010

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries:
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

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Internet sources

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 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01514 (0.00700 - 0.03275), b=2.97 (2.80 - 3.14), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.3   ±0.4 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low vulnerability (10 of 100).