Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) >
Osteoglossiformes (Bony tongues) >
Mormyridae (Elephantfishes)
Etymology: Petrocephalus: Latin, petra = stone + Greek, kephale = head (Ref. 45335). More on author: Sauvage.
Environment / Climate / Range
Ecology
Freshwater; demersal; potamodromous (Ref. 51243). Tropical; 24°C - 28°C (Ref. 2059), preferred ?
Africa: Guinea Bissau (Ref. 1880) to Angola (Ref. 11970). Widely distributed in the Congo River basin (Ref. 2970), in Central African Republic (45441), Cameroon (Ref. 51193), Democratic Republic of the Congo (Ref. 2970), Angola (Ref. 11970) and Zambia (Ref. 42135).
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 12.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 2059)
Short description
Morphology | Morphometrics
Possesses electroreceptors over the entire head and on the ventral and dorsal regions of the body, but absent from the side and the caudal peduncle where the electric organ is located (Ref. 10011). Found schooling with other species having identical electric organ discharge (EOD) waveforms (Ref. 10460). A fractional spawner (Ref. 10605, 10606). Entomophagous (Ref. 51193).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
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. 115185)
CITES (Ref. 94142)
Not Evaluated
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: commercial
More information
Common namesSynonymsMetabolismPredatorsEcotoxicologyReproductionMaturitySpawningFecundityEggsEgg development
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