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Papyrocranus afer (Günther, 1868)

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

Teleostei (teleosts) > Osteoglossiformes (Bony tongues) > Notopteridae (Featherbacks or knifefishes) > Xenomystinae
Etymology: Papyrocranus: Greek, papyros = paper rush + Greek, kranion = skull (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Günther.

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

Freshwater; demersal; pH range: 6.5 - ? ; dH range: 10 - ?. Tropical; 24°C - 30°C (Ref. 2059)

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

Africa: Niger basin (upper Niger, Benue and Niger Delta), most coastal river basins from Senegal and Gambia eastward to include the Tano and Prah basins in Ghana, and the Cross and Sanaga basins east of the Niger delta (Ref. 7431). Absent from the Volta basin, Chad, Ogooué, Kwilu-Niari or Chiloango basins (Ref. 7431).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 80.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 7431); max. published weight: 1.3 kg (Ref. 3516)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 2; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 113 - 141. With 35-45 ventral spines; head 5.0-5.1 times SL; eye diameter 4.6-5.3 times head length; length of nasal tentacle twice the eye diameter. Caudal vertebrae 63-69 (Ref. 7431).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Obligate air-breathing (Ref. 126274); Prefers calm waters with dense vegetation.

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

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Roberts, T.R., 1992. Systematic revision of the old world freshwater fish family Notopteridae. Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwat. 2(4):361-383. (Ref. 7431)

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

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 25 October 2019

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: subsistence fisheries; aquarium: commercial
FAO - Aquaculture systems: production; ; 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
Collaborators
Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
Morphometrics
Pictures
References
References

Tools

E-book | Field guide | Identification keys | 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 - Aquaculture systems: production; ; 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 = 0.7510   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00813 (0.00304 - 0.02174), b=2.99 (2.77 - 3.21), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.2   ±0.45 se; based on food items.
Generation time: 3.8 ( na - na) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 1 growth studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.29).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Moderate vulnerability (38 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 99.6 [54.9, 243.6] mg/100g; Iron = 1.46 [0.71, 2.93] mg/100g; Protein = 17.7 [15.9, 19.5] %; Omega3 = 0.472 [0.192, 1.213] g/100g; Selenium = 90 [31, 211] μg/100g; VitaminA = 22.8 [7.2, 69.1] μg/100g; Zinc = 1.28 [0.84, 2.02] mg/100g (wet weight);