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Oplegnathus conwayi Richardson, 1840

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

Teleostei (teleosts) > Centrarchiformes (Basses) > Oplegnathidae (Knifejaws)
Etymology: Oplegnathus: Greek, hoplon = weapon + Greek, gnathos = jaw (Ref. 45335).
Eponymy: David Barry Conway (d: 1832) was a Royal navy surgeon who was medical superintendant on two different convict ships to Australia. [...] (Ref. 128868), visit book page.
More on author: Richardson.

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

Marine; reef-associated; depth range ? - 150 m. Subtropical; 28°S -

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

Western Indian Ocean: South Africa.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 90.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 4387)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 12; Dorsal soft rays (total): 11 - 14; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 11 - 13.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Found in coastal waters down at a depth of about 150 m. Adults found near reefs, juveniles found near floating objects. Feed on benthic invertebrates and algae (Ref. 5213). May live longer than 10 years. Spawning occurs throughout the year (Ref. 57746). Rarely hooked but easily speared (Ref. 4387).

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

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

van der Elst, R., 1981. A guide to the common sea fishes of southern Africa. C. Struik, Cape Town. 367 p. (Ref. 3670)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-2)

Not Evaluated 

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; gamefish: yes
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
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Ecology
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Length-weight rel.
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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5156   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01995 (0.00906 - 0.04395), b=3.01 (2.83 - 3.19), in cm total length, based on all LWR estimates for this body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  2.7   ±0.24 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (tmax > 10).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  High vulnerability (56 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 19.4 [8.6, 35.0] mg/100g; Iron = 0.515 [0.294, 0.877] mg/100g; Protein = 19.3 [18.1, 20.5] %; Omega3 = 0.148 [0.083, 0.264] g/100g; Selenium = 26.6 [12.9, 56.1] μg/100g; VitaminA = 14.8 [3.5, 62.2] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.602 [0.387, 0.917] mg/100g (wet weight);