Polypterus weeksii, Mottled bichir

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Polypterus weeksii Boulenger, 1898

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

Cladistii (bichirs) > Polypteriformes (Bichirs) > Polypteridae (Bichirs)
Etymology: Polypterus: Greek, poly = a lot of + Greek, pteron = wing, fin (Ref. 45335);  weeksii: Named after Dr. Schouteden, collector of the type-specimens (Ref. 41591, Ref. 49956).
More on author: Boulenger.

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

Freshwater; demersal. Tropical

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

Africa: middle Congo River basin (Ref. 3188) in Republic of Congo (Ref. 44840) and Democratic Republic of the Congo (Ref. 42907).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 54.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3188)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 9 - 11; Anal spines: 10-14. Body more or less compressed (Ref. 42873, Ref. 42901, Ref. 42907). Body depth 6.5 to 9.5 times in standard length; head length 4.25 to 5.5 times in standard length (Ref. 42907). Upper jaw slightly prominent or of equal length with lower jaw (Ref. 1878, Ref. 42907). Number of dorsal finlets: 9-11 (Ref. 42908, Ref. 51884). Number of branched dorsal and caudal rays: 15 (Ref. 49956). Pectoral fin not reaching dorsal fin origin (Ref. 42873, Ref. 45628). Ganoid scales (Ref. 42904): 57-65 lateral line scales, 44-48 scales around body, 20-26 predorsal scales (Ref. 42908, Ref. 44840, Ref. 44985). Dorsal side olive-green to gray colored, ventral side yellowish; 7 or 8 blackish bars bifurcating on the lower parts of the flanks (Ref. 1878, Ref. 4904, Ref. 44985). Fins are spotted, marbled, or irregularly barred with black (Ref. 4904).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Facultative air-breathing (Ref. 126274)

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

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Gosse, J.-P., 1984. Polypteridae. p. 18-29. In J. Daget, J.-P. Gosse and D.F.E. Thys van den Audenaerde (eds.) Check-list of the freshwater fishes of Africa (CLOFFA). Volume I. ORSTOM, Paris and MRAC, Tervuren. 410 p. (Ref. 3188)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 16 February 2009

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
Stocks
Ecology
Diet
Food items
Food consumption
Ration
Common names
Synonyms
Metabolism
Predators
Ecotoxicology
Reproduction
Maturity
Spawning
Spawning aggregation
Fecundity
Eggs
Egg development
Age/Size
Growth
Length-weight
Length-length
Length-frequencies
Morphometrics
Morphology
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Recruitment
Abundance
BRUVS
References
Aquaculture
Aquaculture profile
Strains
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Diseases
Processing
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Mass conversion
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Stamps, Coins Misc.
Sounds
Ciguatera
Speed
Swim. type
Gill area
Otoliths
Brains
Vision

Tools

Special reports

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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 - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5002   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00457 (0.00195 - 0.01073), b=3.05 (2.85 - 3.25), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.3   ±0.5 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Moderate vulnerability (42 of 100).