Hepsetus odoe  (Bloch, 1794)

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

Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Characiformes (Characins) > Hepsetidae (African pikes)
Etymology: Hepsetus: Greek, epsetas, -e, -on = boiled, but there is the following sentence: "oí epsetoi" = certain fishes, and also could be related to "psetta" = grouper (Ref. 45335).

Environment / Climate / Range Ecology

Freshwater; demersal; pH range: 6.0 - 7.5; dH range: ? - 18; potamodromous (Ref. 51243).   Tropical; 26°C - 28°C (Ref. 2060)

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 19.5  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 70.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3569); max. published weight: 4.0 kg (Ref. 3569); max. reported age: 5 years (Ref. 2750)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 2; Dorsal soft rays (total): 7-9; Anal spines: 2-3; Anal soft rays: 9; Vertebrae: 45 - 49. Accessory ectopterygoids. Sensory canal on supraoperculum. Nasals close to each other. Triangular dermic fold on lower jaw and small and rounded on upper. Body depth 4.5-5.8 x SL. Head 3-3.7 x SL. Eye diameter 6-8 x head length. Skeletal formula 8-10/51-58/7-9, 4. Area above eye red-orange marks. Light and dark bands radiating behind eye. Black adipose fin. Pink to grayish fins. Adults may have black spots on paired fins.

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

Africa: widespread from Senegal to Angola including Niger, Volta, Chad, Ogowe, Democratic Republic of the Congo and upper Zambezi Rivers; as well as in the Cunene, Okavango, and Kafue systems. Widespread in central and west Africa. Absent in the Nile River; Zambian Congo and the Great Lakes (Ref. 7248).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Adults occur in most coastal rivers, lakes and swamps (Ref. 3569). Prefer quiet, deep water, like channels and lagoons of large floodplains. Juveniles and fry inhabit well-vegetated marginal habitats. Adults feed on fish, juveniles feed on small invertebrates and fish. Multiple spawner; breeds over the summer months. Relatively short-lived, only 4-5 years (Ref. 7248). Also caught with drawnets.

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Paugy, D., 1990. Hepsetidae. p. 192-194. In C. Lévêque, D. Paugy and G.G. Teugels (eds.) Faune des poissons d'eaux douces et saumâtres de l'Afrique de l'Ouest. Tome I. Coll. Faune Tropicale n° XXVIII. Musée Royal de l'Afrique Centrale, Tervuren and O.R.S.T.O.M., Paris, 384 p.

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 90363)

  Least Concern (LC) 

Threat to humans

  Harmless




Human uses

Fisheries: subsistence fisheries; gamefish: yes; aquarium: commercial
FAO(Aquaculture: production; fisheries: production; publication : search) | FisheriesWiki | Sea Around Us

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Internet sources

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

Estimates of some properties based on empirical models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805):  PD50 = 1.0000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00381 (-0.17857 - 0.18618), b=3.15 (3.04 - 3.25), based on LWR estimates for this family-BS (Ref. 93245).
Trophic Level (Ref. 69278):  4.5   ±0.8 se; Based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 69278):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.27-0.59; tmax=5; Fec < 10,000).
Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low to moderate vulnerability (29 of 100) .
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.