You can sponsor this page

Mastacembelus shiranus  Günther, 1896

Malawi spinyeel
Upload your photos and videos
 Pictures | Videos     Google image
Image of Mastacembelus shiranus (Malawi spinyeel)
Mastacembelus shiranus
Picture by FAO

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Synbranchiformes (Spiny eels) > Mastacembelidae (Spiny eels)
Etymology: Mastacembelus: Greek, mastax, -agos = bite + Greek, emballo = to throw oneself (Ref. 45335).   More on author: Günther.

Environment / Climate / Range Ecology

Freshwater; benthopelagic; pH range: 7.4 - 8.4; dH range: 7 - 30.   Tropical; 23°C - 27°C (Ref. 12468), preferred ?; 9°S - 15°S

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

Africa: Endemic to Lake Malawi and lower course of inflowing rivers.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 26.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 6060)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Vertebrae: 83

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Found mainly in shallow water on rocky areas and over sandy bottoms. Probably feeds on invertebrates and small fishes (Ref. 5595).

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

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Travers, R.A., G. Eynikel and D.F.E. Thys van den Audenaerde, 1986. Mastacembelidae. p. 415-427. In J. Daget, J.-P. Gosse and D.F.E. Thys van den Audenaerde (eds.) Check-list of the freshwater fishes of Africa (CLOFFA). ISNB, Brussels; MRAC, Tervuren; and ORSTOM, Paris. Vol. 2. (Ref. 6060)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 109396)

  Least Concern (LC) 

CITES (Ref. 94142)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless




Human uses

Aquarium: commercial
FAO(Publication : search) | FisheriesWiki | Sea Around Us

More information

Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
Stocks
Ecology
Diet
Food items
Food consumption
Ration
Common names
Synonyms
Metabolism
Predators
Ecotoxicology
Reproduction
Maturity
Spawning
Fecundity
Eggs
Egg development
Age/Size
Growth
Length-weight
Length-length
Length-frequencies
Morphometrics
Morphology
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Recruitment
Abundance
References
Aquaculture
Aquaculture profile
Strains
Genetics
Allele frequencies
Heritability
Diseases
Processing
Mass conversion
Collaborators
Pictures
Stamps, Coins
Sounds
Ciguatera
Speed
Swim. type
Gill area
Otoliths
Brains
Vision

Tools

E-book | Field guide | 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

BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | DiscoverLife | Faunafri | Fishtrace | GenBank(genome, nucleotide) | GOBASE | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Scirus | SeaLifeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia(Go, Search) | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates of some properties based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00282 (0.00126 - 0.00629), b=2.96 (2.77 - 3.15), based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic Level (Ref. 69278):  4.0   ±0.61 se; Based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 69278):  High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low vulnerability (24 of 100) .