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Chaunax africanus Ho & Last, 2013

African coffinfish
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Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
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Chaunax africanus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Chaunax africanus (African coffinfish)
Chaunax africanus
Picture by Ho, H.-C.

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

Teleostei (teleosts) > Lophiiformes (Anglerfishes) > Chaunacidae (Sea toads o coffinfishes)
Etymology: Chaunax: Greek, chaunax, -akos = a conceited man (Ref. 45335);  africanus: Named for the types' regional locality; its decorated pattern is similar to some strikingly coloured African animals like the giraffe..

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

Marine; demersal; depth range 162 - 200 m (Ref. 94130). Tropical

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

Western Indian Ocean: Mozambique (probably endemic in the southwestern Indian Ocean).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 22.7 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 94130)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 3; Dorsal soft rays (total): 12; Anal soft rays: 6 - 7. This species which is a member of the C. fimbriatus-species group is distinguished from its congeners in having the following characters: body is covered by variable-sized, irregular brownish patches and a complex white reticulate pattern; eye circled by prominent radiating brownish markings; dorsal-fin base with 2-3 pairs of narrow brownish bars; pale reticulate markings frequently double-lined; pattern extending forward to front of lower jaw, and over pectoral and caudal fins; bridging each neuromast are 3-4 pairs of spinules; second gill arch with 8-9 rakers; short and stout illicium; small illicial trough oval in shape; esca with numerous thin pale cirri with brown tips; pale gill chamber; peritoneal membrane black; lateral-line neuromast counts: upper preopercular = 2, infraorbital = 6-7, hyomandibular = 3, pectoral = 10-12, body proper = 31-32 (Ref. 94130).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

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

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Ho, Hsuan-Ching | Collaborators

Ho, H.-C. and P.R. Last, 2013. Two new species of the coffinfish genus Chaunax (Lophiiformes: Chaunacidae) from the Indian Ocean. Zootaxa 3710(5):436-448. (Ref. 94130)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Data deficient (DD) ; Date assessed: 12 October 2018

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
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Ecology
Ecology
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Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
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Genetics
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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 | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 13.9 - 17.7, mean 16.5 °C (based on 8 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01000 (0.00244 - 0.04107), b=3.04 (2.81 - 3.27), in cm total length, based on all LWR estimates for this body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.1   ±0.7 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low vulnerability (18 of 100).