| Family: |
Mochokidae (Squeakers or upside-down catfishes), subfamily: Chiloglanidinae |
| Max. size: |
6.22 cm TL (male/unsexed); 5.61 cm TL (female) |
| Environment: |
benthopelagic; freshwater |
| Distribution: |
Africa: Zimbabwe. |
| Diagnosis: |
Dorsal soft rays (total): 5-7; Anal soft rays: 12-13. This species is distinguished from its congeners in southern Africa (i.e. anoterus, bifurcus, emarginatus, fasciatus, paratus, pretoriae, swierstrai) by the dorsal fin that has a basal portion covered by a fleshy skin, a character which is absent in the other species; with ten closely packed mandibular teeth; a deeply forked caudal fin, with an upper lobe that is shorter than the lower lobe; oral disc with a well-developed mid-ventral cleft; a smooth skin with a few tubercles occasionally found on the head; a dorsal spine with crenate anterior and posterior margins (Ref. 130906). |
| Biology: |
TThe species was collected from Mukwadzi River, a perennial river that originates from wetlands (dambos) on the eastern side of the Great Dyke. This river flows in a north-western direction cutting through the Great Dyke before it joins the Manyame River. The substratum at the sites was composed of bedrock, cobbles and gravel, and the riparian vegetation was mainly Syzygium Gaertner, 1788 and Phragmites Adanson, 1763. It co-occurred with native fish species that include Labeo cylindricus Peters, 1852, Opsaridium zambezense (Peters, 1852), Enteromius trimaculatus (Peters, 1852), Tilapia sparrmanii Smith, 1840, Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822), and Labeobarbus marequensis (Smith, 1841) as well as the non-native species Serranochromis jallae (Boulenger, 1896) and Micropterus salmoides (Lacepède, 1802) (Ref. 130906). |
| IUCN Red List Status: |
Not Evaluated (N.E.) Ref. (130435)
|
| Threat to humans: |
harmless |
Source and more info: www.fishbase.org. For personal, classroom, and other internal use only. Not for publication.
