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Osteoglossiformes (Bony tongues) >
Notopteridae (Featherbacks or knifefishes) > Xenomystinae
Etymology: Xenomystus: Greek, xenos = strange + Greek, mystax = whiskered, used by Belon in 1553 to describe all fishes with whiskers (Ref. 45335).
Eponymy: This is a toponym referring to the River Niger; the river (or its mouth, in the case of marine species) being the type locality. (Ref. 128868), visit book page.
More on author: Günther.
Entorno: milieu / zona climática / rango de profundidad / gama de distribución
Ecología
; agua dulce demersal; pH range: 6.0 - 8.0; dH range: 5 - 19. Tropical; 22°C - 28°C (Ref. 1672)
Africa: widely distributed in tropical Africa, in the Nile, Chad, Niger, Ogowe and Congo basins (Ref. 7431). Also present in coastal rivers in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Togo, Benin and Cameroon, but not found in Côte d'Ivoire nor Ghana (Ref. 7431).
Tamaño / Peso / Edad
Madurez: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 30.0 cm SL macho / no sexado; (Ref. 31256)
Espinas dorsales (total) : 0; Espinas anales: 0; Radios blandos anales: 108 - 130. Body height 5-5.4 x SL, head length 6.9-7.5 x SL, snout smaller than eye, eye diameter 3.8-4.5 x head length, maxilla extends to vertical of eye center or just under the eye's posterior border, ventral spines 25-32
Body shape (shape guide): fusiform / normal; Cross section: compressed.
Obligate air-breathing (Ref. 126274); Prefers quiet waters with vegetation. Females lay 150-200 eggs of 2 mm diameter (Ref. 1672). Can produce barking sounds. Comes to the surface from time to time to swallow air. Feeds at dusk and during the night on worms, crustaceans, insects and snails (Ref. 7020).
Ciclo vital y comportamiento de apareamiento
Madurez | Reproducción | Puesta | Huevos | Fecundidad | Larva
Roberts, T.R., 1992. Systematic revision of the old world freshwater fish family Notopteridae. Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwat. 2(4):361-383. (Ref. 7431)
Situación en la Lista Roja de la UICN (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-2 (Global))
Amenaza para el ser humano
Harmless
Usos humanos
Pesquerías: sin interés; Acuario: Comercial
Herramientas
Informes especiales
Descargar XML
Fuentes de Internet
Estimaciones basadas en modelos
Índice de diversidad filogenética (Referencia
82804): PD
50 = 1.0010 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00832 (0.00317 - 0.02185), b=2.99 (2.77 - 3.21), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref.
93245).
Nivel trófico (Referencia
69278): 3.3 ±0.44 se; based on food items.
Resiliencia (Referencia
120179): Alto, población duplicada en un tiempo mínimo inferior a 15 meses (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Vulnerabilidad pesquera (Ref.
59153): Low to moderate vulnerability (27 of 100).
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