Taxonomy & naming
Haplochromis sp. "Red Tail Sheller" is a hobby label for an undescribed Lake Victoria cichlid. The hobby files it as Platytaeniodus sp. "Red Tail Sheller", and Rick Borstein (GCCA, 2008) uses that name. The atlas files Lake Victoria haplochromines under Haplochromis in the broad sense, so this page uses that genus; the label is not treated as a described species of Platytaeniodus or Haplochromis. The form has no formal description, so it has no valid name, authority or year.
Morphology
Rick Borstein (GCCA, 2008) gives no description of the fish's colour or adult length. He mentions only a two-inch (about 2 in) female that was already breeding.
Habitat
Rick Borstein (GCCA, 2008) titles the section "A Red Tail Sheller from Lake Victoria". No collection locality, depth or water data are recorded.
Feeding
No feeding information is given in the GCCA source.
Mating
No courtship or spawning behaviour is described in the GCCA source.
Breeding
Rick Borstein (GCCA, 2008) received a trio as a Father's Day gift from his son Sam. A female of about 2 in gave a spawn of 22 young. He describes the fish as a precocious breeder, like many Victorian cichlids, and says the fry grow fast.
In the aquarium
Rick Borstein (GCCA, 2008) gives no tank size or water figures. He notes that the trio came through his son, who works at a pet shop, and points readers to a write-up on the species by Victorian specialist Greg Steeves.
Conservation
An undescribed form has no IUCN category, and none is claimed here. Population and range data for it are not documented in the atlas's sources.