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Atherion africanum Smith, 1965

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

Teleostei (teleosts) > Atheriniformes (Silversides) > Atherionidae (Pricklenose silversides)
Etymology: Atherion: Greek, atherine = smelt.
More on author: Smith.

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

Marine; pelagic-neritic; depth range 0 - 10 m. Tropical; 21°N - 29°S, 77°E - 32°E

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

Indian Ocean: India to Natal, South Africa (Ref. 4125).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 5.5 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 4125); common length : 4.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3302)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 5 - 6; Dorsal soft rays (total): 10 - 12; Anal spines: 1; Anal soft rays: 16 - 17. Translucent and blue-green in color; pigmentation on head and body variable (Ref. 4125).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Usually caught offshore in depths of less than 2 m. Used as food for larger commercial species and possibly as bait.

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

Oviparous (Ref. 36947).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Ivantsoff, W., 1984. Atherinidae. In W. Fischer and G. Bianchi (eds.) FAO species identification sheets for fishery purposes. Western Indian Ocean fishing area 51. Vol. 1. (Ref. 3302)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-1)

Not Evaluated 

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: of no interest
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet composition
Food consumption
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growth parameters
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Recruitment
Abundance
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Maturity/Gills rel.
Fecundity
Spawning
Spawning aggregations
Eggs
Egg development
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
Gill area
Brain
Otolith
Physiology
Body composition
Nutrients
Oxygen consumption
Swimming type
Swimming speed
Visual pigments
Fish sound
Diseases & Parasites
Toxicity (LC50s)
Genetics
Genetics
Heterozygosity
Heritability
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
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Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
Morphometrics
Pictures
References
References

Tools

E-book | Field guide | Length-frequency wizard | Life-history tool | Point map | Classification Tree | Catch-MSY |

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

Download XML

Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

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 | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.6250   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00389 (0.00180 - 0.00842), b=3.12 (2.94 - 3.30), in cm total length, based on all LWR estimates for this body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.1   ±0.3 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low vulnerability (10 of 100).