Hippopotamyrus aelsbroecki (Poll, 1945)
Species overview
Small fish, body moderately deep, snout blunt, mouth terminal, chin thick, fleshy, eye quite big, dorsal fin longer than anal fin. Size observed: 75 mm SL, 87 mm TL.
H. aelsbroecki(measurements)
Taxonomic description
-Body moderately deep, laterally compressed, body depth 29 % SL, greatest depth close to dorsal fin, back and belly curved, upper profile of head steeply curved down, underside of head concave.
-Head length 26 % SL, head depth 21 % SL, 73 % body depth, 81 % head length.
-Snout short, blunt, 24 % head length, 1/2 postorbital length, feebly protruding mouth.
-Mouth small, slightly subterminal, chin with moderate mental swelling, not protruding mouth. Upper jaw on a level with upper edge origin of pectoral fin, edge of mouth below middle between nostrils.
-Teeth notched, 3/5.
-Nostrils separate, circular, in oblique line midway between eye and front, on a level with centre of eye; axis of nostrils cutting axis of head at an angle of about 45°.
-Eye 22 % head length, 89 % snout length.
-Opercular cleft slightly curved, 32 % head length, 40 % head depth. 32 fin-rays in dorsal fin, 26 in anal, base of D 21 % SL, base of A 13.5 % SL, D originating clearly anterior of A, ending opposite to end of A. predorsal length 53 % SL, preanal length 73 % SL.
-Pectoral fin pointed, its base clearly separated from opercular cleft, extending to middle of pelvic fin. V closer to P than to A.
-Caudal fin pointed, scaled lobes short, rounded. About 70 scales in lateral line, 12 round caudal peduncle.
-Caudal peduncle 14-21 % SL, its depth 7 % SL, 29 % its length.
-Coloration Brownish, head darker, a brighter spot on the gill cover; fins greyish, anterior part of D and A darker.
Type locality
»Elisabethville« Democratic Republic of Congo (11° 40 ‘ S 27°30 ‘ E); recently Lubumbashi.
Distribution
Democratic Republic of Congo, Shaba region, type locality.