Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) >
Osteoglossiformes (Bony tongues) >
Mormyridae (Elephantfishes)
Etymology: Marcusenius: Becasue of J. Marcusen, author of "Zur Phauna des Schwarzen Meeres", 1867; ichthyologist. More on author: Linnaeus.
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Freshwater; demersal; potamodromous (Ref. 51243). Tropical
Africa: Nile, from the Delta to Bahr-el-Jebel, Niger and Chad basins. Also in the Bénoué River (Ref. 2915). Affinities: close to Marcusenius abadii. # of anal fin rays, # of scales on lateral line and the position of the dorsal and anal fins distinguishes one from the other.
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 33.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 2915); max. published weight: 458.00 g (Ref. 2915)
Short description
Morphology | Morphometrics
Inhabits lakes. Bottom feeding insectivore. Breeds during flood season and enters the floodplain for this purpose (Ref. 28714). Shows three 'preferred' modes of intervals between electric organ discharges (inter-EOD) when at rest: 10-35 ms, 50-120 ms and 200-350 ms (Ref. 10833).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Bigorne, R., 1990. Mormyridae. p. 122-184. In C. Lévêque, D. Paugy and G.G. Teugels (eds.) Faune des poissons d'eaux saumâtres d'Afrique de l'Ouest. tome 1. Faune Trop. 28. Musée Royal de l'Afrique Centrale, Tervuren, and ORSTOM, Paris. (Ref. 2915)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 123251)
CITES (Ref. 118484)
Not Evaluated
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: minor commercial
More information
ReferencesAquacultureAquaculture profileStrainsGeneticsAllele frequenciesHeritabilityDiseasesProcessingMass conversion
Tools
Special reports
Download XML
Internet sources
Estimates based on models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82805): PD
50 = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01175 (0.00650 - 0.02122), b=2.84 (2.69 - 2.99), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & Genus-body shape (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 3.0 ±0.37 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref.
120179): Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Moderate vulnerability (36 of 100) .