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Alestes macrophthalmus Günther, 1867

Torpedo robber
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Alestes macrophthalmus
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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: Alestes: Greek, alestes, -oy = miller (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Günther.

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

Freshwater; pelagic. Tropical

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

Africa: Congo River basin: from Pool Malebo (Ref. 42480) up to the upper Lualaba (Ref. 2970, 42019, 45616, 80290) and Luapula (Ref. 1878, 42135, 80290, 85675) in Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Angola and Zambia. Lower Guinea: found in coastal River basins in Cameroon, Gabon and the Republic of Congo (Ref. 80290). Also reported from Lake Tanganyika, the Malagarazi River (Ref. 36901) and the Rusizi River (Ref. 98755).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 60.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 2880)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 10 - 11; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 19 - 23. Diagnosis: very well developed adipose eyelid (Ref. 42019, 80290, 81279); 18-20 branched anal-fin rays (Ref. 2880, 42019, 80290, 81279). 16-20 branched rays in Tanganyika specimens (Ref. 36899, 45485). 17-22 gill rakers on lower limb of first gill arch; dorsal-fin origin at about same level of pelvic-fin insertions (Ref. 2880, 80290, 81279). Sexual dimorphism affecting shape of anal fin (Ref. 80290, 81279).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Omnivore; remnants of insect larvae (Ref. 36901), weed, beetles and other insects (Ref. 42135) and fish (Ref. 36899) found in stomach. Juveniles predominantly insectivore, piscivore as adults (Ref. 85675).

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

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: Version 2024-2)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 10 May 2019

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet composition
Food consumption
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growth parameters
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Recruitment
Abundance
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Maturity/Gills rel.
Fecundity
Spawning
Spawning aggregations
Eggs
Egg development
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
Gill area
Brain
Otolith
Physiology
Body composition
Nutrients
Oxygen consumption
Swimming type
Swimming speed
Visual pigments
Fish sound
Diseases & Parasites
Toxicity (LC50s)
Genetics
Genetics
Heterozygosity
Heritability
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
Collaborators
Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
Morphometrics
Pictures
References
References

Tools

E-book | Field guide | Identification keys | Length-frequency wizard | Life-history tool | Point map | Classification Tree | Catch-MSY |

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

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 | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5078   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01122 (0.00621 - 0.02027), b=3.05 (2.89 - 3.21), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  2.0   ±0.00 se; based on food items.
Generation time: 1.0 ( na - na) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 1 growth studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low to moderate vulnerability (25 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 122 [49, 343] mg/100g; Iron = 2.64 [1.19, 6.24] mg/100g; Protein = 19 [17, 21] %; Omega3 = 0.431 [0.153, 1.295] g/100g; Selenium = 80.6 [29.5, 236.1] μg/100g; VitaminA = 11.3 [3.1, 40.2] μg/100g; Zinc = 2.1 [1.3, 3.3] mg/100g (wet weight);