Petrocephalus wesselsi, Southern Churchill

Petrocephalus wesselsi Kramer & van der Bank, 2000

Southern Churchill
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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); wesselsi: Named for Pierre Wesselsi.
Eponymy: Pierre Wessels of Johannesburg, South Africa, participated in the authors’ expedition to Caprivi (Namibia) and was described by them as a “…nature conservationist and good friend.” (Ref. 128868), visit book page.

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

Freshwater; pelagic. Subtropical

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

Africa: Incomati River system (Sabie River forms a part of it), the Blyde and Letaba rivers that both drain into the Limpopo river system (a major independent system), and in the Pongola River (Natal) (Ref. 38306, 52193).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 11.4 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 38306); 10.9 cm SL (female)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 18 - 21; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 25 - 28.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Inhabits fast flowing, major, perennial river, bordered by dense, subtropical or tropical vegetation (Ref. 38306).

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

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Kramer, B. and F.H. van der Bank, 2000. The southern churchill, Petrocephalus wesselsi, a new species of mormyrid from South Africa defined by electric organ discharges, genetics, and morphology. Environ. Biol. Fishes 59(4):393-413. (Ref. 38306)

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

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 06 December 2016

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 |