Hippopotamyrus harringtoni (Boulenger, 1905)
Species overview
Medium sized fish, moderately elongate, snout protruding, mouth inferior, base of dorsal fin slightly longer base of anal; D, A and caudal fin with black markings.
Size observed: 305 mm SL.
H. harringtoni(measurements)
Taxonomic description
-Body moderately elongate, laterally compressed, body depth 19-27 % SL, greatest depth close to dorsal fin; head length 19-21 % SL, depth of head 15-19 % SL, 66-79 % body depth; outlines of back and belly curved, front profile feebly concave in larger specimens.
-Snout rounded, even more in larger fish, protruding mouth, 20-33 % head length.
-Mouth inferior, small, edge of mouth below posterior nostril.
-Chin with moderate submental swelling.
-Teeth notched, 3/5.
-Nostrils separate, circular, anterior on a level with centre, posterior with lower border of eye, a line connecting both nostrils would cut axis of head at an angle of about 45°. Diameter of eye medium, 13-20 % head length, about 60 % snout length, its eye distance from front about as long as its diameter.
-Opercular cleft 26-32 % head length, 22-28 % postorbital length.
-Dorsal fin 25-31, base of D 25-31 % SL, anal fin 30-33, its base 25-29 % SL, D originating and ending more or less opposite to A, predorsal length 55-59 % SL, preanal length 53-57 % SL.
-Pectoral fin pointed, extending to middle of pelvic fin which is closer to P than to A.
-Caudal fin pointed, more than half of it densely scaled. 80-87 scales in lateral line, 12 around caudal peduncle.
-Caudal peduncle 15-21% SL, its depth 3-6% SL, 19-30 % its length.
-Coloration »Brown above, white below (countershaded); traces of a blackish bar between D and A, the anterior portions of which are blackish, the rest white at the base; a blackish streak along each lobe of caudal fin«.
Type locality
»Polkom, Baro river (Sobat)« White Nile. (Sobat - Sawba, 09° 45 ‘ N 31° 45 ‘ E)
Distribution
White Nile, Niger River, Chad basin.