"Hapalops" is a word used to describe a genus of fish found in the Amazon River. The spelling of this word can be explained using IPA phonetic transcription. The word begins with the phoneme /h/, followed by the vowel sound /a/ as in "cat". The second syllable starts with a bilabial stop /p/ and is followed by the sound /ə/ as in "about". The final syllable contains the consonant cluster /l/ and /ps/, which represents a voiced labial-velar fricative. Therefore, the correct spelling of this word is "hapalops".