| Family: |
Malapteruridae (Electric catfishes) |
| Max. size: |
55.5 cm SL (male/unsexed); 54 cm SL (female) |
| Environment: |
benthopelagic; freshwater |
| Distribution: |
Africa: throughout the Congo River basin (Ref. 44050, 78218), but absent from the lowland, central portion of the basin (Ref. 44050). |
| Diagnosis: |
Anal spines: 0-0; Anal soft rays: 10-13; Vertebrae: 40-42. Diagnosis: tooth patches narrow; horizontally based pectoral fins, placed low on the body; snout sharply narrowed rostrally; 40-42 vertebrae; 7-29 gill-rakers; 11-12 anal-fin rays; caudal saddle and bar pattern very faintly expressed; 7-8 branched caudal-fin rays; body finely spotted; lateral line complete (Ref. 44050).
Description: head depressed; snout and tooth patches narrow; body more or less fusiform; 17-18 abdominal vertebrae; 23-25 caudal vertebrae; 19 caudal-fin rays (arrangement: ii-7-8-ii) (Ref. 44050).
Coloration: bicolored, occasionally sharply so; dorsum tan or light brown, venter pale and largely unpigmented, except for slight stippling on the underside of the head and around anal and pelvic fin bases, and scattered small spots; flank and dorsum well marked with generally small spots, 1-1.5 times an eye diameter large or smaller, with sometimes larger blotches posteriad; pectoral fin unspotted, rays may be dusky in adults; pelvic fin generally opaque, unspotted; adipose with pale distal margin, otherwise marked as dorsum; anal fin matches body ground color, lightly spotted in adults, with a pale distal margin in juveniles and adults; distal 2/3 of caudal fin dusky in juveniles and young, bounded by a clear distal margin and pale basal crescent; caudal fin in adults matches dorsum and flank ground color, except for a clear distal margin, and is well marked with fine spots in large adults (larger than 40cm SL); caudal saddle and bar pattern weakly developed, even in young; saddle slightly darker than ground color and extends to about mid-depth; pale interspace slightly lighter than ground color; caudal bar somewhat darker than saddle and present mostly on the caudal peduncle (not the caudal fin) (Ref. 44050). |
| Biology: |
|
| IUCN Red List Status: |
Least Concern (LC); Date assessed: 16 February 2009 Ref. (130435)
|
| Threat to humans: |
other |
Source and more info: www.fishbase.org. For personal, classroom, and other internal use only. Not for publication.
