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Mastacembelus niger Sauvage, 1879

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

Teleostei (teleosts) > Synbranchiformes (Spiny eels) > Mastacembelidae (Spiny eels)
Etymology: Mastacembelus: Greek, mastax, -agos = bite + Greek, emballo = to throw oneself (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Sauvage.

Issue
The species Mastacembelus goro Boulenger, 1902 is considered valid in Eschmeyer (CofF ver. May 2011: Ref. 86870). It is treated here a synonym of Mastacembelus niger Sauvage, 1879 following the recent work of Vreven (2008: 81678).

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

Freshwater; demersal. Tropical

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

Africa: Mbonge River basin in Cameroon to the Shiloango River basin in Democratic Republic of the Congo (Ref. 81678). Also present in the Congo River basin (Ref. 81678) from the Kinsuka rapids and Pool Malebo (Ref. 41585) up to the Wagenia Falls (Ref. 106245). Reports of Mastacembelus flavomarginatus from the rivers Konkouré (Ref. 3009) and Sassandra (Ref. 3057) are misidentifications of respectively Mastacembelus kakrimensis (Ref. 55095) and Mastacembelus praensis (Ref. 57415).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 37.5 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 81678)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Vertebrae: 89 - 98. Diagnosis: distance from tip of snout to last externally visible dorsal spine 49.5-67.6% SL (mean 60.5%), decreasing with size; postanal length 38.5-53.4% SL (mean 44.7%), increasing with size; distance from tip of snout to last externally visible anal spine 49.2-67.0% SL (mean 59.1%), decreasing with size; distance from posterior edge of pectoral fin to anterior origin of first dorsal spine, 19.4-86.4% HL (mean 52.4%); gill opening small, its distance to dorsal pectoral fin base relatively long, 8.3-14.9% HL (mean 11.5%); 24+1 up to 33+1 (median 30+1) dorsal spines; origin of soft dorsal fin slightly anterior or posterior to origin of soft anal fin (Ref. 81678).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Occurs in shallow waters (Ref. 6060). Maximum reported total length 387 mm (Ref. 81678).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Travers, R.A., G. Eynikel and D.F.E. Thys van den Audenaerde, 1986. Mastacembelidae. p. 415-427. In J. Daget, J.-P. Gosse and D.F.E. Thys van den Audenaerde (eds.) Check-list of the freshwater fishes of Africa (CLOFFA). ISNB, Brussels; MRAC, Tervuren; and ORSTOM, Paris. Vol. 2. (Ref. 6060)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 16 February 2009

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

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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 | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00257 (0.00122 - 0.00544), b=2.97 (2.79 - 3.15), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.9   ±0.6 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Moderate vulnerability (36 of 100).
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 320 [172, 823] mg/100g; Iron = 2.77 [1.21, 5.86] mg/100g; Protein = 17.6 [15.8, 19.3] %; Omega3 = 0.272 [0.114, 0.636] g/100g; Selenium = 26.1 [7.4, 97.6] μg/100g; VitaminA = 45.3 [15.9, 125.1] μg/100g; Zinc = 1.56 [0.83, 3.10] mg/100g (wet weight);