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Osteoglossiformes (Bony tongues) >
Mormyridae (Elephantfishes)
Etymology: Petrocephalus: Latin, petra = stone + Greek, kephale = head (Ref. 45335).
Eponymy: Nicolas Bové (1802–1842) was a Luxembourg gardener, botanist and collector. [...] (Ref. 128868), visit book page.
More on author: Valenciennes.
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Freshwater; demersal; potamodromous (Ref. 51243). Tropical; 23°C - 26°C (Ref. 2060)
Africa: Chad, Niger, Volta, Gambia and Senegal basins, including the Nile. Also known from Côte d'Ivoire (Ref. 272).
Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm 6.8 range ? - ? cm
Max length : 11.5 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 123661); max. published weight: 30.00 g (Ref. 123661); max. reported age: 2.50 years (Ref. 2749)
Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 21 - 28; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 27 - 35. body depth 2.9-3.7 x SL, anal base 3.2-4.7 x SL, caudal peduncle height 13.3-19.3 x SL. Eye diameter 2.7-4.6 x head length. Uniformly brilliant silver color, sometimes grayish or brownish.
Body shape (shape guide): fusiform / normal; Cross section: compressed.
Affinities: P. pellegrini. Generates electric organ discharge (EOD) of short duration that seems to correlate with aggregative behavior of the species (Ref. 14060; 10601). EOD temporal pattern cues have been shown to play a role in species recognition for P. bovei (Ref. 10600). A ratio measure between olfactory and visual receptor areas suggests that this species relies more on visual than olfactory information (Ref. 10839). A fractional spawner (Ref. 10605; 10606).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Builds a nest for the eggs. No guarding or tending has been observed, though.
Gosse, J.-P., 1984. Mormyridae. p. 63-122. In J. Daget, J.-P. Gosse and D.F.E. Thys van den Audenaerde (eds.) Check-list of the freshwater fishes of Africa (CLOFFA). ORSTOM, Paris and MRAC, Tervuren. Vol. 1. (Ref. 3203)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-2)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: of no interest
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