Common names:
Unknown
None

Taxonomic tree
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii (ray-finned fish)
Order: Cichliformes (Cichlids)
Family: Cichlidae (Cichlids)
Genus: Neochromis
Species: Neochromis omnicaeruleus (Seehausen & Bouton 1998)
Number of Occurrancies: 12

Etymology(based on Scharpf & Lazara, 2019)

• Neochromis: neo-, meaning new, i.e., a new genus “closely related” to Haplochromis


• omnicaeruleus: omnis, meaning all; caeruleus, meaning blue, referring to entirely blue male coloration of the most common color morph. 

Synonyms: click here to view synonyms on FishBase, but also see taxonomic remarks below

Type locality: Speke Gulf, Makobe Island, Lake Victoria, Tanzania. Holotype at Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie (RMNH)

General identification features for haplochromine cichlids

• A single nostril on each side of the head; dorsal fin with contineous spinous and soft-rayed parts; lateral line interrupted(with anterior superior part and posterior inferior part)


• Ctenoid scales


• Juveniles lack tilapia mark (dark spot at the posterior end of the dorsal fin)

Distinguishing characters for the genus(From Seehausen et al., 1998)

• A steep and convex dorsal head profile;


• A broad, sometimes square shaped lower jaw; teeth in the outer row equally or subequally bicuspid and contigously set; teeth in the outer tooth row very movably implanted; three to more than six rows of inner teeth in both jaws forming broad bands anteriorly and anterolaterally; lack of a distinct gap separating the outer tooth row from the first inner row in the lower jaw;


• Usually 3-5 egg dummies on the anal fin of males;


• Flank scales much higher than wide and and either a usually distinct vertical bar pattern on the flanks or black blotches on organge ground

Distinguishing characters for the species (From Seehausen et al., 1998)

• Medium sized haplochromine with a steep to very steep and convex to strongly convex dorsal head profile, contigously set subequally bicuspid outer teeth, many rows of inner teeth 


• Very small cycloid scales on the belly


• Bright blue male flank coloration with black vertical bars and usually all fins blue.


• The small scales on the belly are diagnostic except for N. rufocaudalis (which are separated by color of caudal fins: blue vs red). Also dorsal head not quite as steep as N. rufocaudalis. 

Taxonomic remarks: We adopt the genus Neochromis, which is valid in Catalog of Fishes (Eschmeyer et al. 2019), based on Seehausen et al. 1998, although FishBase (Froese and Pauly, 2019) lists the species in genus Haplochromis based on Van Oijen 1996. 

Distribution in Uganda: Lake Victoria

Occurence: Native

Habitat: Restricted to rocky shores. 

Feeding: Epilithic filamentous Chlorophyta and Cyanophyta.

Biology: Pronounced sexual dimorphism in size and coloration; adult females reaching 8.5 cm SL and males reaching 11.9 cm SL. A polygynous female mouth brooder with maternal parental care. Spawning takes place throughout the year. Length at 50% maturity in males is 6.3 cm SL in females and 8.6 cm SL in males.

Economic importance/End use: Unknown. 

IUCN conservation status: click here to view synonyms

Threats: Predation by L. niloticus and alteration of river flow for the riverine populations.  

Main references

• Seehausen, O., Lippitsch, E., Bouton, N. and Zwennes, H. 1998. Mbipi, the rock-dwelling cichlids of Lake Victoria: description of three new genera and fifteen new species (Teleostei). Ichtyological exploration of Freshwaters 9: 129-228.


• Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2019. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version (02/2019)


• Sharpf C, Lazara J.K. 2019. Fish Name Etymology Database v4. www.etyfish.org


• Eschmeyer, W.N., Fricke, R. and Van der Laan, R. (eds). 2019. Catalog of Fishes: genera, species, references. Updated 1 July 2019. Available at: http://researcharchive.calacademy.org/research/ichthyology/catalog/fishcatmain.asp. (Accessed 10 July 2019)


• van Oijen, M.J.P. 1996. The generic classification of haplochromine cichlids of Lake Victoria, East Africa. Zoologische Verhandelingen 302: 57-110.