Haplochromis pyrrhocephalus Witte & Witte-Maas, 1987
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Haplochromis pyrrhocephalus is a species of cichlid fish endemic to Lake Victoria in East Africa. This species can reach a standard length of 7.3 cm (2.9 in).
Historically a common species, the species rapidly declined and went unrecorded from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s when it reappeared. As in several other Lake Victoria haplochromines of demersal habitats, its sudden decline has been attributed to the introduced Nile perch and eutrophication of the lake's water. After its reappearance it has again become common, likely aided by adaptions to the changes in its habitat. This includes it moving into shallower water (it used to be found mostly at depths of 8–14 m or 26–46 ft), feeding on insects larvae and similar animals (it used to feed on zooplankton), getting a larger caudal peduncle compared to the head (allowing it to swim faster to escape the Nile perch), and larger gills (allowing it to cope with lower oxygen-levels). The ability to make these changes possibly is related to a level of hybridization with close relatives like H. laparogramma.
Wikipedia contributors, Haplochromis pyrrhocephalus; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T22:44:12.938823+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Haplochromis pyrrhocephalus Witte & Witte-Maas, 1987
- Name authority
- Witte & Witte-Maas, 1987
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Cichliformes
- Family
- Cichlidae
- Genus
- Haplochromis
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: no · Freshwater: yes · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderCichliformes
- familyCichlidae Bonaparte, 1835
- subfamilyPseudocrenilabrinae Fowler, 1934
- genusHaplochromis Hilgendorf, 1888
- speciesHaplochromis pyrrhocephalus Witte & Witte-Maas, 1987
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Haplochromis. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Haplochromis acidens Greenwood, 1967 | CichlidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Haplochromis aelocephalus Greenwood, 1959 | CichlidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Haplochromis akika Lippitsch, 2003 | CichlidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Haplochromis albertianus Regan, 1929 | CichlidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Haplochromis ampullarostratus Schraml, 2004 | CichlidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Haplochromis antleter Mietes & Witte, 2010 | CichlidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Haplochromis barbarae Greenwood, 1967 | CichlidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Haplochromis bareli van Oijen, 1991 | CichlidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Haplochromis bartoni Greenwood, 1962 | CichlidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Haplochromis boops Greenwood, 1967 | CichlidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Haplochromis brownae Greenwood, 1962 | CichlidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Haplochromis cassius Greenwood & Barel, 1978 | CichlidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Yssichromis pyrrhocephalus (Witte & Witte-Maas, 1987) (Witte & Witte-Maas, 1987) | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- Witte, F.; M. Witte-Maas, E. L. (1987). Implications for taxonomy and functional morphology of intraspecific variation in Haplochromine cichlids of Lake Victoria with descriptions of five zooplanktivorous species. In: F. Witte, from Form to Fishery: An Ecological and Taxonomical Contribution to Morphology and Fishery of Lake Victoria Cichlids. Ph.D. Thesis Rijksuniversiteit, Leiden. I-Ix + 1-14 + 596-612 + 1-83 + [15] + 1-27 + 1-14 + [4], Pls. 1-8, Pp. 1–83, Tables 1–25 [14 pp.], Study material [1 p.], Pls. 1–8 (Hoofdstuk 2). Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3JLZD. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.