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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); melanochir: From the Greek "melas" = dark and "cheir" = hand, in reference to the dusky pectoral fin characteristic for the species (Ref. 44050).

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

Freshwater; demersal. Tropical

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

Africa: middle and upper Congo River basin, Democratic Republic of the Congo (Ref. 78218).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 98.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 44050)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 9 - 11; Vertebrae: 42 - 45. Diagnosis: tooth patches broad; obliquely angled pectoral fins positioned low on body; 43-45 vertebrae; 9-11 anal-fin rays; eyes round; body relatively darkly pigmented; larger specimens with dusky pectoral and pelvic fin rays (Ref. 44050).

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

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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)

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 |

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet composition
Food consumption
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Ecology
Ecology

Population dynamics
Growth parameters
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
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Abundance

Life cycle
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Maturity
Maturity/Gills rel.
Fecundity
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Eggs
Egg development
Larvae
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Distribution
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Anatomy
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Otolith

Physiology
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Oxygen consumption
Swimming type
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Visual pigments
Fish sound
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Toxicity (LC50s)

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Genetics
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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=0.00389 (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): 3.6 ±0.4 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives

Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153): High to very high vulnerability (72 of 100).

Malapterurus melanochir Norris, 2002