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Plotosus nkunga Gomon & Taylor, 1982

Stinging eel catfish
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Plotosus nkunga   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Plotosus nkunga (Stinging eel catfish)
Plotosus nkunga
Picture by Randall, J.E.

Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) country information

Common names: [No common name]
Occurrence: native
Salinity: marine
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: | Ref:
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: no uses
Comments: Reported from Taiwan Strait (Ref. 47843).
National Checklist:
Country Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/tw.html
National Fisheries Authority:
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Huang, Z., 2001
National Database: The Fish Database of Taiwan

Common names from other countries

African eel-catfish, Baberpaling, Cá Ngát , ... more

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

Teleostei (teleosts) > Siluriformes (Catfishes) > Plotosidae (Eeltail catfishes)
Etymology: Plotosus: Greek, plotos = swimming (Ref. 45335).

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

Marine; freshwater; brackish; demersal.   Tropical

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

Western Indian Ocean: Kosi Bay to Knysna in South Africa. Possibly extending to Zanzibar, Tanzania.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 51.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3879)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 1; Dorsal soft rays (total): 4; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 88 - 109. Preserved specimens brown or grey above, lighter brown or whitish below; 2 faint, longitudinal stripes sometimes present on body but not extending onto head (Ref. 3977).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Found in estuaries and along open coasts. Enters freshwaters of South Africa (Ref. 3879). Feeds mainly on benthic invertebrates (Ref. 3478).

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

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Taylor, W.R. and J.R. Gomon, 1986. Plotosidae. p. 160-162. In J. Daget, J.-P. Gosse and D.F.E. Thys van den Audenaerde (eds.) Check-list of the freshwater fishes of Africa (CLOFFA). ISBN, Brussels; MRAC, Tervuren; and ORSTOM, Paris. Vol. 2. (Ref. 3879)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Not Evaluated 

CITES (Ref. 128078)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Venomous (Ref. 4537)




Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial; gamefish: yes
FAO(Publication : search) | FishSource |

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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | Faunafri | Fishtrace | GenBank(genome, nucleotide) | GloBI | GOBASE | | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Scirus | SeaLifeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia(Go, Search) | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 21.7 - 28, mean 26.9 (based on 388 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5020   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00457 (0.00199 - 0.01049), b=3.07 (2.86 - 3.28), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.5   ±0.37 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Moderate vulnerability (45 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Low.