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Brycinus imberi (Peters, 1852)

Spot-tail
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Brycinus imberi
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Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Characiformes (Characins) > Alestidae (African tetras)
Etymology: Brycinus: Greek, ebrykon, brykomai = to bite, to gnaw (Ref. 45335);  imberi: In Hoedemann 1951..
More on author: Peters.

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

Freshwater; demersal; pH range: 6.0 - 6.5; dH range: 4 - 18; potamodromous (Ref. 51243). Tropical; 22°C - 26°C (Ref. 1672); 23°S - 31°S

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

Africa: Mono River in Togo to Nipoué River in Liberia (Ref. 2880, 81279). Widely distributed in the Congo River basin (Ref. 42019). Also in the middle Zambezi (Ref. 95585), lower Zambezi, Wami River in Tanzania to Pongolo River in South Africa; Lakes Malawi, Rukwa, Rufiji and Ruvuma; on the western coast in the Quanza and the Nyanga, Tanganyika tributaries, Lake Kariba, Cunene River (Ref. 5331).

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 9.3  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 19.8 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 2880); max. published weight: 300.00 g (Ref. 7248); max. reported age: 5 years (Ref. 7248)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 14 - 18. Diagnosis: parietal fontanella absent in adults and porelinke in juveniles, disappearing with growth; snout short, comprised over three times in head length; dorsal-fin origin at same level as, or scarcely behind, pelvic-fin insertions; head narrow; adults medium-sized; sexual dimorphism affecting anal-fin shape in adult males; no band or spots on sides; caudal fin red, not black-edged; 4.5 scales between lateral line and dorsal fin; 21-31 lateral line scales; 11-16 anal fin branched rays; 8/8 premaxillary teeth; 16-20 gill rakers in lower part of first branchial arch (Ref. 2880, 81279).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Found in shallow and sheltered waters of swampy bays. Generally restricted to shallow waters where they may be found in various habitats such as over sand, rock or, less frequently, in aquatic weed beds (Ref. 13337). Common in shallow vegetated areas (Ref. 4967). Also found in large rivers and floodplain pans and lagoons. Feeds on insects, tiny fishes, vegetable matters (Ref. 5595) and crustaceans (Ref. 13337). Main predator is the tigerfish (Ref. 7248). Breeds in summer, migrating to spawning sites after rains. Migrates to tributary rivers and floodplains when the rivers come down in spate (Ref. 13337). Known to mass at river mouths while waiting for suitable conditions to trigger off the breeding migrations upstream (Ref. 13337). Used as live bait for tigerfish and large catfish (Ref. 13337). Affinities: B. carolinae, with lateral stripe; B. nigricauda with wide black margin on caudal fin.

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

Assumed to be the same as Arnoldichthys spilopterus.

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Paugy, D., 1990. Characidae. p. 195-236. In C. Lévêque, D. Paugy and G.G. Teugels (eds.) Faune des poissons d'eaux douces et saumâtres de l'Afrique de l'Ouest. Tome I. Coll. Faune Tropicale n° XXVIII. Musée Royal de l'Afrique Centrale, Tervuren et O.R.S.T.O.M., Paris, 384 p. (Ref. 2880)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 22 May 2018

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: subsistence fisheries; aquarium: commercial; bait: usually
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet compositions
Food consumptions
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growths
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversions
Recruitments
Abundances
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturities
Fecundities
Spawnings
Spawning aggregations
Egg(s)
Egg developments
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
Gill areas
Brains
Otoliths
Physiology
Body compositions
Nutrients
Oxygen consumptions
Swimming type
Swimming speeds
Visual pigment(s)
Fish sounds
Diseases / Parasites
Toxicities (LC50s)
Genetics
Genetics
Electrophoreses
Heritabilities
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
Collaborators
References
References

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 | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01230 (0.00965 - 0.01568), b=2.97 (2.92 - 3.02), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.3   ±0.48 se; based on food items.
Generation time: 2.6 ( na - na) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 2 growth studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (K=1.4; tmax=5).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low vulnerability (10 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.