| Diagnosis: |
Dorsal spines (total): 15-17; Dorsal soft rays (total): 8-10; Anal spines: 3-3; Anal soft rays: 6-8; Vertebrae: 26-27. Diagnosis: It is a species of Pelvicachromis, distinguished from all congeners by a combination of characters as follows: it differs from Pelvicachromis taeniatus and P. subocellatus in absence of a pattern of pale blue and reddish dots on the caudal fin of adult males; it differs from P. roloffi in a broader midlateral band on the body, absence of small dots in the male caudal fin, absence of red margin with whitish to bluish submargin in the female dorsal fin; it differs from P. humilis, P. rubrolabiatus and P. signatus in absence of dark vertical bars on body; it differs from P. pulcher in a broader midlateral band on the body, usually as broad or broader than a pale yellowish band dorsal to this dark band, iridescent blueish to turquoise colouration band on cheeks and a different colouration of the dorsal fin in females; no margin, spiny portion pale to dark and dusky orange, soft parts yellowish to clear in most posterior regions vs. black margin, yellow submargin and black fin base in P. pulcher (Ref. 119364).
Description: Caudal fin rounded in both sexes; some rays in posterior parts of dorsal and anal fins pronounced, but always much longer in males (Ref. 119364). Infraorbital series with lachrymal and three additional tubular bones and a distinct gap between second and third tubular infraorbital; lachrymal with four laterosensory pores; total vertebrae 26-27, 14-15 abdominal plus 12-13 caudal (Ref. 119364). Premaxilla with 2-4 rows, dentary with 2-3 rows of regularly set unicuspid teeth; anteriorly in lower jaw a few teeth are rotated and point inward; lower pharyngeal bone triangular, with unicuspid to weakly bicuspid teeth on lateral parts of this bone, and asymmetric bicuspid teeth in central field (Ref. 119364). Gill rakers on first gill arch: 8-13 tuberculate gill rakers on ceratobranchials, 2-6 pointed gill rakers on epibranchials; well-developed hanging pad on roof of the pharynx (Ref. 119364). Scales cycloid; 2-3 rows of scales on cheek; four horizontal rows on opercle; dark spot on outer edge of opercle unscaled; chest-scales smaller than body scales, 5-7 scales between pectoral and pelvic fins; upper lateral line with 17-21 scales, lower lateral line with 7-10 scales; upper lateral line separated from dorsal-fin base anteriorly by two and a half to four scales, at 8th pored scale by one and a half to two and a half scales, and at last pored scale by half to one and a half scale; end of upper lateral line rarely overlapping lower lateral line, usually separated from beginning of lower lateral line by 1-3 rows of scales; about 1/4 of caudal fin covered with scales, all other fins unscaled (Ref. 119364).
Colouration: Head and body pale brown to greyish brown; dorsum darker than ventral parts of body; dark scaleless spot on outer edge of opercle, often bordered at upper and lower parts by light blue to turquoise iridescent margins; upper lip brownish to black, lower lip greyish to brown, red in males of red morph; a black mid-lateral band from posterior edge of opercle extending to middle parts or end of the caudal fin; a black dorso-lateral band reaching from front of head to about end of dorsal fin, contiguous with a soft dorsal-fin base, separated from the mid-lateral band by a pale, whitish to yellowish band of equal or lesser depth than dark mid-lateral band; dark interorbital stripe and a second dark stripe from anterior edge of eye to upper margin of upper lips; bluish to turquoise iridescent stripe from angle of the mouth to the posterior edge of cheek; upper edge of eye golden-yellow; pelvic fins with a blue margin on anterior edge, followed by a red and a blue submargin; rest of this fin reddish to violet; pectoral fins clear to pale yellowish; some individuals with a few black spots in upper parts of caudal fin and/or in soft dorsal-fin parts (Ref. 119364). Male specific colouration: dorsal fin with red margin, followed by a white submargin and black base in anterior parts and a greyish to clear base in posterior parts; caudal fin clear to pale reddish, with a red margin on upper half, followed by a whitish to iridescent bluish part; anal fins with red margin on anterior edge; rest of fin bluish to violet; in colouration of ventral head and body parts below dark mid-lateral band, three colour morphs are distinguishable: the yellow morph with yellowish to bluish cheeks, yellow throat, flanks and vent and a red blotch on the belly, the red morph with bright red on lower half of head including lower lip, the whole vent and the flanks until close to the origin of the anal fin, the green morph with greenish parts corresponding to those that are yellowish in the yellow morph; red blotch on belly can disappear in submissive or stressed specimens (Ref. 119364). Female specific colouration: no clear distinction between females of the three colour morphs; dorsal fin without margin, spiny portion pale dark and dusky orange, soft parts yellowish to clear in most posterior regions; spiny parts can be dark grey to blackish when courting; caudal and anal fin transparent yellow; lower caudal body parts grey to black; bright red belly, but pale after spawns and in breeding colouration; flanks and breast pale yellow to bluish, same with lower opercular and subopercular region of head, sometimes pale reddish in females of res morph and more dusky to blackish in aggressive and courting females of all colour morphs (Ref. 119364). Juveniles of both sexes before acquiring adult colouration exhibit a pattern of two, rarely three rows of irregular dark spots on brown colouration, up to about 12-15 mm standard length; with increasing size, sex-specific colouration is seen (Ref. 119364). Preserved specimens: head and body brown, darker dorsally; dark spot on outer edge of opercle; both dark longitudinal stripes visible in most individuals, reaching from posterior edge of eye, extending into the caudal fin, but absent in few, possibly in cause of condition or duration of preservation; dark interorbital stripe and a second stripe from anterior edge of eye to upper margin of upper lips visible in some specimens, but front of head often uniformly dark brown (Ref. 119364). |