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Elops lacerta Valenciennes, 1847

West African ladyfish
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Elops lacerta   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Elops lacerta (West African ladyfish)
Elops lacerta
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Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Elopiformes (Tarpons and tenpounders) > Elopidae (Tenpounders)
Etymology: Elops: Greek, ellops = a kind of serpent (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Valenciennes.

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

Marine; freshwater; brackish; pelagic-neritic; depth range 1 - 50 m (Ref. 26999). Tropical; 21°N - 29°S, 20°W - 15°E

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

Eastern Atlantic: coastal waters of West Africa from Mauritania to Angola or Namibia (Ref. 4445, 81265, 81629). Sometimes it enters freshwater, like in Cross River and Kouilou-Niari River (Ref. 81629). It is often confused with Elops senegalensis (Ref. 81629).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 100.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5377); common length : 60.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 2683)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Anal spines: 0. Diagnosis: Elops lacerta is characterized by 17-19 gill-rakers on lower limb of first gill arch and small scales, those in lateral line numbering 72 to 83 and ornamented with a small, unbranched, tubule (Ref. 2844, 81265, 81629).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Elops lacerta lives in shallow coastal waters over sandy/muddy bottoms, occasionally entering brackish waters and the lower reaches of rivers; from inshore and some way up tidal rivers to edge of shelf (Ref. 4445, 81265, 81629). The reproduction takes place in the sea (Ref. 81265). It feeds primarily on small fishes, mainly clupeids, crustaceans and molluscs; large specimens also feed on insects (Ref. 81629).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Whitehead, P.J.P., 1990. Elopidae. p. 118-119. In J.C. Quero, J.C. Hureau, C. Karrer, A. Post and L. Saldanha (eds.) Check-list of the fishes of the eastern tropical Atlantic (CLOFETA). JNICT, Lisbon; SEI, Paris; and UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 1. (Ref. 4445)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 07 April 2020

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; gamefish: yes
FAO - Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | FishSource | Sea Around Us

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet compositions
Food consumptions
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Ecology
Ecology
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Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
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Distribution
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BRUVS - Videos
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Physiology
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Swimming type
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Visual pigment(s)
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Genetics
Genetics
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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Fisheries: landings; 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 | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 23.8 - 28, mean 26.7 °C (based on 68 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5176   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00646 (0.00487 - 0.00855), b=2.97 (2.89 - 3.05), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.2   ±0.75 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (Assuming tm=2-3; K=0.7 for juveniles).
Prior r = 0.57, 95% CL = 0.37 - 0.85, Based on 1 data-limited stock assessment.
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  High vulnerability (60 of 100).
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  Very high vulnerability (83 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   High.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 100 [59, 207] mg/100g; Iron = 1.23 [0.71, 2.15] mg/100g; Protein = 17.2 [14.7, 20.3] %; Omega3 = 0.197 [0.105, 0.378] g/100g; Selenium = 63.3 [29.7, 146.8] μg/100g; VitaminA = 8.36 [3.04, 23.05] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.981 [0.695, 1.430] mg/100g (wet weight);