Petrocephalus longicapitis

Petrocephalus longicapitis Kramer, Bills, Skelton & Wink, 2012

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

Teleostei (teleosts) > Osteoglossiformes (Bony tongues) > Mormyridae (Elephantfishes)
Etymology: Petrocephalus: Latin, petra = stone + Greek, kephale = head (Ref. 45335); longicapitis: The species name longicapitis refers to this species' long head (Ref. 91771).

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

Freshwater; demersal. Tropical

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

Africa: upper and middle Zambezi River (Ref. 91771). Also in the Okavango in Angola (Ref. 120641).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 11.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 91771)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 21 - 25; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 26 - 30. Diagnosis: Head length 25.8-29.6% of standard length; predorsal length 61.9-65.7% of standard length; preanal length 57.5-61.7% of standard length; depth of caudal peduncle 33.4-39.8% of its length; 12 scales around caudal peduncle; 37-39 scales in lateral line row (Ref. 91771).
Body shape (shape guide): fusiform / normal.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Appears to prefer quiet reaches of oxbow lakes or arms with dense vegetation on borders; where it occurs in the main river channel, sand and gravel substrate mainly with occasional rocky rapids; during the day associated with marginal cover in holes in banks, root stocks and aquatic weed beds (Ref. 91771).

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

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Kramer, B., R. Bills, P. Skelton and M. Wink, 2012. A critical revision of the churchill snoutfish, genus Petrocephalus Marcusen, 1854 (Actinopterygii: Teleostei: Mormyridae), from southern and eastern Africa, with the recognition of Petrocephalus tanensis, and the description of five new species. Journal of Natural History 46(35-36):2179-2258. (Ref. 91771)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-2)

Not Evaluated 

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | OneZoom | Open Tree of Life | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | TreeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search |