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

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

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

Freshwater; demersal. Tropical

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

Africa: Sanaga River in the north to the more southern Kouilou-Niari River, including the rivers Ntem and Ogowe (Ref. 85331). Also in the middle Congo River basin, downstream up to the lower Congo River near Brazzaville (Ref. 85331) and southwards to Angola (Ref. 120641).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 5.2 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 11970)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal soft rays (total): 18 - 21; Anal soft rays: 25 - 29. Petrocephalus microphthalmus is distinguished from all other Petrocephalus species in Central Africa by the following combination of characteristics: short dorsal fin with only 18 or fewer branched rays, long anal fin with 23-27 branched rays, eye small (HL/ED=4,1-4,8), mouth moderately wide, only 9-11 teeth in the upper jaw, 14-20 teeth in the lower jaw, no more than 10 scales between the anterior base of the anal fin and the lateral line (Ref. 52344, 85331). Absence of black pigment patches, except for a characteristic black blotch on the anterior dorsal fin rays near the origin of this fin; body silvery/purplish, iridescent (Ref. 85331).

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

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Gosse, J.-P., 1984. Mormyridae. p. 63-122. In J. Daget, J.-P. Gosse and D.F.E. Thys van den Audenaerde (eds.) Check-list of the freshwater fishes of Africa (CLOFFA). ORSTOM, Paris and MRAC, Tervuren. Vol. 1. (Ref. 3203)

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

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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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=0.01549 (0.00684 - 0.03506), b=2.86 (2.68 - 3.04), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this Genus-body shape (Ref. 93245).

Trophic level (Ref. 69278): 3.1 ±0.4 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives

Resilience (Ref. 120179): High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).

Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153): Low vulnerability (10 of 100).

Petrocephalus microphthalmus Pellegrin, 1909