Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Actinopteri (ray-finned fishes) > Osteoglossiformes (Bony tongues) > Mormyridae (Elephantfishes)
Etymology: Petrocephalus: Latin, petra = stone + Greek, kephale = head (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Lacepède.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Freshwater; demersal; potamodromous (Ref. 51243). Tropical

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Africa: Nile basin, also from the Bénoué, Chad and Volta River (Ref. 2915).

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m 11.0 range ? - ? cm
Max length : 20.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 31256); max. published weight: 40.00 g (Ref. 3799)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 29-34; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 32 - 38. Body depth 2.6-3.2 x SL, anal base 3.1-3.4 x SL, caudal peduncle height 16.8-18.7 x SL. Eye diameter 3.5-4.5 x head length. Uniform silvery color.

Inhabits open water and vegetated areas of lakes, lagoons and irrigation canals. Females grow larger and are more frequently caught than males. Chiefly insectivorous, feeding on the bottom and in vegetation (Ref. 28714). Affinities: P. ansorgii, differ only by the small eyes, the thick caudal peduncle, numerous teeth on lower jaw and the uniform silvery color (P. ansorgii has a spot on the dorsal fin).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Gosse, J.-P., 1984. Mormyridae. p. 63-122. In J. Daget, J.-P. Gosse and D.F.E. Thys van den Audenaerde (eds.) Check-list of the freshwater fishes of Africa (CLOFFA). ORSTOM, Paris and MRAC, Tervuren. Vol. 1. (Ref. 3203)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 125652)

Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 04 September 2019

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Harmless

Human uses

Fisheries: ; aquarium: commercial

FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

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Internet sources

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805): PD₅₀ = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].

Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01479 (0.00772 - 0.02833), b=2.86 (2.70 - 3.02), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for species & Genus-BS (Ref. 93245).

Trophic level (Ref. 69278): 3.2 ±0.40 se; based on food items.

Resilience (Ref. 120179): High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).

Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153): Low vulnerability (14 of 100) .

Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649): (0 of 100) .

Price category (Ref. 80766): Unknown.

Petrocephalus bane (Lacepède, 1803)