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Teleostei (teleosts) > Siluriformes (Catfishes) > Malapteruridae (Electric catfishes)
Etymology: Malapterurus: Greek, mala = a lot of + Greek, pteron = fin + Greek, oura = tail (Ref. 45335); punctatus: From the Latin "punctum" = little spot, in reference to the finely spotted dorsum and flank typical of this species (Ref. 44050).

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

Freshwater; benthopelagic. Tropical

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

Africa: St. Paul (or Diani) River system (Sierra Leone) to the Cavally River system (Liberia/Ivory Coast) (Ref. 44050, 57130). Also reported from the Waanje River (Sierra Leone)(Ref. 44050)

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 21.5 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 57130)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 0; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 8 - 10; Vertebrae: 38 - 39. Diagnosis: tooth patches broad; 8-10 anal-fin rays; 20 caudal-fin rays (nearly always ii-7-8-iii); 38-39 vertebrae; body and head only slightly depressed; snout and head relatively blunt (in dorsal and lateral profile); eyes more or less lateral; body colored in shades of grey; lower lip and underside of head not especially darkened or stippled; dorsum and flank finely spotted; paired fins frequently spotted in adults; caudal fin darkly pigmented with a pale distal margin, but no pale basal crescent (young up to 70mm SL have a pale spot at the base of the caudal fin but no well-developed crescent or bar) (Ref. 44050).

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

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Norris, S.M., 2002. A revision of the African electric catfishes, family Malapteruridae (Teleostei, Siluriformes), with erection of a new genus and descriptions of fourteen new species, and an annotated bibliography. Ann. Mus. R. Afr. Centr., Sci. Zool., 289:1-155. (Ref. 44050)

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

Vulnerable (VU) (B2ab(iii)); Date assessed: 21 October 2019

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Harmless

Human uses

FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

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Internet sources

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=0.00389 (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): 3.4 ±0.4 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives

Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153): Low vulnerability (16 of 100).

Malapterurus punctatus Norris, 2002