Ilisha africana, West African ilisha : fisheries

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Ilisha africana (Bloch, 1795)

West African ilisha
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Ilisha africana   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Ilisha africana (West African ilisha)
Ilisha africana
Picture by Klimpel, S.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Clupeiformes (Herrings) > Pristigasteridae (Pristigasterids)
Etymology: Ilisha: An Indian name.
More on author: Bloch.

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

Marine; freshwater; brackish; pelagic-neritic; depth range 0 - 35 m (Ref. 86940). Tropical; 17°N - 7°S, 17°W - 14°E (Ref. 54448)

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

Africa: Atlantic coasts from northern parts of Senegal south to Baie de Saint-Bras in Angola (Ref. 188, 3509), also in lagoons and river estuaries (Ref. 188, 81270).

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 13.0, range 13 - 18 cm
Max length : 30.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 27000); common length : 16.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 188); max. published weight: 144.00 g (Ref. 86940)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 14-17; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 45 - 50; Vertebrae: 42 - 43. Diagnosis: Body moderately deep, compressed, belly with a sharp and serrated keel of scutes from gill opening to anus, 25-27 pre-pelvic and 6-8 post-pelvic sharp scutes (Ref. 187, 188, 81270). Eye large, mouth pointing upwards, lower jaw projecting (Ref. 187, 188). Dorsal fin at or before midpoint of body; anal fin long, with more than 40 finrays, its origin below dorsal fin base; pelvic fins small (Ref. 187, 188). Swimbladder with two short tubes passing back in the muscles on either side of haemal spines (Ref. 188). Other clupeoid fishes in the area are more slender, have a much shorter anal fin and the lower jaw is not strongly projecting (Ref. 188).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Found in the marine environment, pelagic, along beaches and just off shore, down to about 25 m, also in lagoons and estuaries, penetrating into almost freshwater (Ref. 187, 188, 54448). A marine migrant (Ref. 117399). Rarely found below 35 m depth (Ref. 86940). It feeds on small planktonic animals, e.g. small fish and crustaceans; it doesn't seem to feed on plankton (Ref. 188, 3166, 47405).

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

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Whitehead, P.J.P., 1985. FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 7. Clupeoid fishes of the world (suborder Clupeoidei). An annotated and illustrated catalogue of the herrings, sardines, pilchards, sprats, shads, anchovies and wolf-herrings. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(7/1):1-303. Rome: FAO. (Ref. 188)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 17 July 2014

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial
FAO - Fisheries: landings, species profile; Publication: search | FishSource | Sea Around Us

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Fisheries: landings, species profile; Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 25.9 - 28, mean 27.5 °C (based on 160 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00661 (0.00541 - 0.00806), b=3.02 (2.97 - 3.07), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.6   ±0.2 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (K=0.8-1.3).
Prior r = 1.19, 95% CL = 0.79 - 1.79, Based on 3 stock assessments.
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low vulnerability (21 of 100).
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  High to very high vulnerability (73 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   High.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 206 [110, 411] mg/100g; Iron = 2.01 [1.19, 3.28] mg/100g; Protein = 19.4 [18.0, 20.7] %; Omega3 = 0.397 [0.206, 0.739] g/100g; Selenium = 44.4 [20.6, 85.5] μg/100g; VitaminA = 20.2 [8.0, 49.5] μg/100g; Zinc = 1.52 [1.07, 2.15] mg/100g (wet weight);