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Teleostei (teleosts) > Siluriformes (Catfishes) > Malapteruridae (Electric catfishes)
Etymology: Malapterurus: Greek, mala = a lot of + Greek, pteron = fin + Greek, oura = tail (Ref. 45335); minjiriya: "Minjiriya" is the Hausa word for the species, easily distinguished from the sympatric M. electricus by Niger River fishermen (Ref. 44050).

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

Freshwater; benthopelagic. Tropical

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Africa: known from Niger River and Volta River system (Ref. 44050, 57130). Also in the White Nile (Barro and Alvero Rivers), and Omo River; possibly also in Chad and Senegal basins but has not been collected here (Ref. 44050).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 51.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 57130)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 0; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 9 - 12; Vertebrae: 43 - 47. Diagnosis: tooth patches broad (Ref. 34006, 44050). Pectoral fin placed ventrally; 8-12 anal-fin rays; 19 caudal-fin rays (ii-7-8-ii); 43-47 vertebrae (Ref. 44050). Body and head marked with large blotches (Ref. 34006, 44050). Spotting and blotching concentrated posteriad; caudal and anal fins unmarked or lightly spotted; paired fins rarely spotted (Ref. 44050).

Largest specimen encountered in museum collections was 320mm SL; Sagua (1987) reported sizes up to 510 mm SL (Ref. 57130).

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

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Norris, S.M., 2002. A revision of the African electric catfishes, family Malapteruridae (Teleostei, Siluriformes), with erection of a new genus and descriptions of fourteen new species, and an annotated bibliography. Ann. Mus. R. Afr. Centr., Sci. Zool., 289:1-155. (Ref. 44050)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 30 August 2019

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Other

Human uses

FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

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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=0.00389 (0.00180 - 0.00842), b=3.12 (2.94 - 3.30), in cm total length, based on all LWR estimates for this body shape (Ref. 93245).

Trophic level (Ref. 69278): 3.5 ±0.4 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives

Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153): Moderate vulnerability (45 of 100).

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Malapterurus minjiriya Sagua, 1987