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Osteoglossiformes (Bony tongues) >
Mormyridae (Elephantfishes)
Etymology: Petrocephalus: Latin, petra = stone + Greek, kephale = head (Ref. 45335); arnegardi: This species is dedicated to Matthew E. Arnegard, in recognition of his contributions to study of mormyrid evolution and diversification; Matthew Arnegard is additionally a member of the “Mintotom Team”: researchers associated with the Carl D. Hopkins Laboratory at Cornell University who have conducted field studies on African weakly electric fishes for more than 15 years ("Mintotom" is the plural form of the word for mormyrid fish in the Fang language of West Central Africa) (Ref. 96601).
Eponymy: Dr Matthew Arnegard (d: 1967) is an evolutionary biologist who was a member of the ‘Mintotom Team’ of researchers in the laboratory of Professor Carl Hopkins, Cornell University (N. [...] (Ref. 128868), visit book page.
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Freshwater; demersal. Tropical
Africa: various tributaries of the Likouala drainage (middle Congo River tributary) in Republic of Congo, and the middle Congo River near Yangambi in Democratic Republic of the Congo (Ref. 96601).
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 9.0 cm male/unsexed; (Ref. 96601)
Diagnosis: Petrocephalus arnegardi is distinguished from all other Petrocephalus species of Central Africa by the following combination of characteristics: pigmentation pattern comprising three well-defined, bilateral black patches, one usually distinct round/ovoid subdorsal black mark situated slightly anterior to dorsal, one black mark at the base of each pectoral fin, and one ovoid black mark centered at the base of caudal fin; dorsal fin at least one third shorter than anal fin; dorsal fin with at least 20 branched rays but no more than 22; anal fin with at least 30 branched rays; 16 teeth or fewer in upper jaw, 25 teeth or fewer in lower jaw; eye relatively large, ration head length and eye-diameter less than 4.7; mouth subterminal; ration of head length to mouth position between 4.2 and 5.6; mouth small, ration head length and mouth width more than 4.1; and EOD of normal polarity, mainly biphasic with sometimes the presence of a small-amplitude positive third phase (Ref. 96601).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Lavoué, S. and J.P. Sullivan, 2014. Petrocephalus boboto and Petrocephalus arnegardi, two new species of African electric fish (Osteoglossomorpha, Mormyridae) from the Congo River basin. ZooKeys 400:43-65. (Ref. 96601)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-2)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
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Estimates based on models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01549 (0.00684 - 0.03506), b=2.86 (2.68 - 3.04), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this Genus-body shape (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 3.2 ±0.4 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).