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Teleostei (teleosts) > Osteoglossiformes (Bony tongues) > Mormyridae (Elephantfishes)
Etymology: Petrocephalus: Latin, petra = stone + Greek, kephale = head (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Günther.

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

Freshwater; demersal; potamodromous (Ref. 51243). Tropical; 23°C - 26°C (Ref. 2060); 3°S - 27°S

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

East Africa: Rovuma River system including Niassa Reserve, and western confluences to Lake Malawi (Ref. 91771). Following a recent revision of the Petrocephalus catostoma complex (Ref. 91771), unambiquous evidence for the presence of this species in the Bangweulu-Mweru area (and consequently the Congo basin) is still lacking (Ref. 91772).

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m ?, range 4 - ? cm
Max length : 15.0 cm FL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5214)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 18 - 22; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 25 - 28.

Occurs in shallow and muddy waters, sheltered bays, in lagoons, and swampy areas; prefers quiet parts of rivers where there is abundant vegetation (Ref. 13337). Forms shoals (Ref. 13337) within quiet reaches of rivers and floodplains, and with other species with identical electric organ discharge (EOD) waveforms (Ref. 10460). Feeds on insects, found on river bed or in marginal vegetation (Ref. 12526), on insect larvae and other invertebrates at night (Ref. 5595). Known to undergo upriver migration (Ref. 13337, 10608) which may well be correlated with breeding (Ref. 13337). Breeds during the rainy season, possibly moving upstream to suitable sites (Ref. 10608). An unconfirmed report claims the males are territorial and build a nest (Ref. 7248). Caught in nets for food (5214). Oviparous (Ref. 205).

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

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Kramer, B., R. Bills, P. Skelton and M. Wink, 2012. A critical revision of the churchill snoutfish, genus Petrocephalus Marcusen, 1854 (Actinopterygii: Teleostei: Mormyridae), from southern and eastern Africa, with the recognition of Petrocephalus tanensis, and the description of five new species. Journal of Natural History 46(35-36):2179-2258. (Ref. 91771)

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

Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 13 June 2018

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Harmless

Human uses

Fisheries: subsistence fisheries; aquarium: commercial

FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

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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=0.01349 (0.00743 - 0.02447), b=2.82 (2.67 - 2.97), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & Genus-body shape (Ref. 93245).

Trophic level (Ref. 69278): 3.4 ±0.38 se; based on food items.

Generation time: 1.4 ( na - na) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 2 growth studies.

Resilience (Ref. 120179): Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (Fec = 116).

Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153): Low vulnerability (17 of 100).

Price category (Ref. 80766): Unknown.

Petrocephalus catostoma (Günther, 1866)