Teleostei (teleosts) >
Clupeiformes (Herrings) >
Dorosomatidae (Gizzard shads and sardinellas)
Etymology: Laeviscutella: Latin, laevis = flat + Latin, scutum, scutella, diminutive = shield (Ref. 45335); dekimpei: Named in honour of M.P. De Kimpe, Ing. Eaux et Forêts, Gx., Fisheries Officer at Cotonou (Dahomey) for his services in collecting this and other species for the Musée Royal de l'Afrique Centrale in Tervuren (Ref. 42928).
More on authors: Poll, Whitehead & Hopson.
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Freshwater; brackish; pelagic. Tropical; 10°N - 7°S, 6°W - 15°E (Ref. 188)
Africa: lower parts of rivers and lagoons in West Africa (Ref. 188), from the Casamance River to the Niger delta (Ref. 2849, 28136, 81269), lower Ogowe River in Gabon (Ref. 81631) and Loémé River in Republic of Congo (Ref. 81631). Also reported to occur in the Congo River (Ref. 188, 28136), but this needs confirmation.
Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm 3.8, range 4 - 4 cm
Max length : 5.5 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 130826)
Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 14 - 16; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 17 - 20; Vertebrae: 39 - 42. Diagnosis: Laeviscutella dekimpei is distinguished by its congeners by the following characters: belly rounded, prepelvic scutes 7 or 8, with lateral arms but without keels and hidden by scales; postpelvic scutes without arms, but supporting a low membranous keel; lower gillrakers 21 to 26 (Ref. 188, 81269, 81631). In all other West African pellonulines with scutes, the postpelvic scutes have lateral arms, except Sierrathrissa, in which the prepelvic scutes also lack arms and the pelvic fin insertion is well before the dorsal fin origin (Ref. 188, 81631).
A riverine species, chiefly near the coast and entering lagoons, where salinities vary with the tides; it is presumably euryhaline, although it may escape high salinities (Ref. 188). Ripe females of 3.5 to 4.0 cm standard length were recorded in Ebrié Lagoon (Ref. 188, 1989).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae
Gourène, G. and G.G. Teugels, 2003. Clupeidae. p. 125-142. In D. Paugy, C. Lévêque and G.G Teugels (eds.) The fresh and brackish water fishes of West Africa Volume 1. Coll. faune et flore tropicales 40. Institut de recherche de développement, Paris, France, Muséum national d'histoire naturelle, Paris, France and Musée royal de l'Afrique Central, Tervuren, Belgium, 457p. (Ref. 81269)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: subsistence fisheries
Tools
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Internet sources
Estimates based on models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 1.0000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00912 (0.00433 - 0.01920), b=3.04 (2.87 - 3.21), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 3.1 ±0.3 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Resilience (Ref.
120179): High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Low vulnerability (10 of 100).
