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Species
Lates niloticus var. macrolepidota Pellegrin, 1922
IUCN
NCBI
EOL Text
There are 141 species of fish recorded in the Senegal River, most of which are native; however, there are no endemic species of fish in the Senegal Basin. Among the larger native benthopelagic taxa are: the 170 centimetre (cm) North African Catfish (Clarias gariepinus), the 149 cm Electric Catfish (Malapterurus electricus), and the 92 cm African Carp (Labeo coubie).
Some of the larger native demersal fishes of the Senegal Basin are: the 204 cm Aba (Gymnarchus niloticus). the 200 cm Nile Perch (Lates niloticus), the 183 cm Sampa (Heterobranchus longifilis), and the 150 cm Cornish Jack (Mormyrops anguilloides).
Pelagic native fishes in the Senegal River include the 65 cm True Big-scale Tetra (Brycinus macrolepidotus) and the 16 cm Ansorge Fangtooth Pellonuline (Odaxothrissa ansorgii)
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Rights holder/Author | cc-by 3.0 sa-nc |
Source | http://www.eoearth.org/article/Senegal_River?topic=78166 |
Africa: Widespread throughout the Ethiopian Region of Africa, occurring commonly in all major river basins including the Nile, Chad, Senegal, Volta and Congo. Present in the brackish waters of Lake Mariout, near Alexandria. Exists in Lakes Albert, Rudolph and Tana. Several countries report adverse ecological impact after introduction.
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Rights holder/Author | Crispina B. Binohlan, FishBase |
Source | http://www.fishbase.org/summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=347 |
Depth: 10 - 29m.
From 10 to 29 meters.
Habitat: demersal.
The following is a representative barcode sequence, the centroid of all available sequences for this species.
There are 7 barcode sequences available from BOLD and GenBank.
Below is a sequence of the barcode region Cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COI or COX1) from a member of the species.
See the BOLD taxonomy browser for more complete information about this specimen and other sequences.
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Potamodromous. Migrating within streams, migratory in rivers, e.g. Saliminus, Moxostoma, Labeo. Migrations should be cyclical and predictable and cover more than 100 km.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Susan M. Luna, FishBase |
Source | http://www.fishbase.org/summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=347 |
Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 7
Specimens with Barcodes: 131
Species With Barcodes: 1
The diet of Nile perch consists of fishes, insects, crustacea and mollusks. The type of prey ingested by the predator depends on the predator size, prey availability and abundance within a given habitat (Ogari, 1984). Juvenile Nile perch feed on copepods, prawns in the genus Caridina, fish fry, small gastropods, and bivalves. As the fish matures and moves to greater depths haplochromine cichlids constitute over 95% of their food consumption. Occasional items found in the Nile perch's diet include smaller fish in the genera Barbus, Clarias, Haplochromis, Lates, Oreichromis, and Xenoclarias. Besides crustacean zooplankton, invertebrate prey includes snails, clams, and insects (odonate larvae, aquatic Hemiptera, mayflies in the genus Povilla, and larvae of phantom midges (Chaoborus). Fish in the genus Rastrineobola are very common in the diet in terms of occurrence, and are second to haplochromines (Acere, 1985). As Nile perch grow larger, they take larger prey. Nile perch less than 80 cm tend to feed on smaller fishes than those greater than 80 cm. This demonstrates that the predator is capable of shifting to other sizes of prey when more suitable sizes become scarce (Ogutu-Ohwayo, 1984).
Animal Foods: fish; insects; mollusks; aquatic crustaceans; zooplankton
Primary Diet: carnivore (Piscivore )
- Ogari, J. 1984. Distribution, Food and Feeding Habits of *Lates niloticus* in Nyanza Gulf of Lake Victoria (Kenya). FAO Fisheries Report, 335: 68-80.
- Ogutu-Ohwayo, R. 1984. The Effects of Predation by Nile Perch, *Lates niloticus* (Linne) Introduced into Lake Kyoga (Uganda) in Relation to the Fisheries of Lake Kyoga and Lake Victoria. FAO Fisheries Report, 335: 18-41.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Lates_niloticus/ |
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Lates_niloticus/ |
The Nile perch (Lates niloticus) is a species of freshwater fish native to the Congo, Nile, Senegal, Niger, and Lake Chad, Volta, Lake Turkana and other river basins, and is now widespread through tropical Africa. It has a large number of common names including African snook, Capitaine, Victoria perch and many local names in various African languages, such as the Luo name Mbuta. One of the largest freshwater fish, Lates niloticus reaches a maximum length of nearly two meters (more than six feet), weighing up to 200 kg. Mature fish average 121–137 cm although many fish are caught before they can grow this large.
A fierce predator that dominates its surroundings, the Nile perch feeds on fish (including its own species), crustaceans, and insects; the juveniles also feed on zooplankton. Nile perch have been introduced to many other lakes in Africa, including Lake Victoria in 1962. The Lake Victoria introduction is an often-cited example of enormous effect of a non-native species upon its new surroundings, as Nile perch decimated the rich diversity of hundreds of native species, and caused the decline or extinction of an estimated 200 chichlid fish in Lake Victoria. This highly studied introduction caused a booming fishing industry for Nile Perch which destroyed the livelihood of traditional local lake-side dwelling people and caused a chain of other high impact repercussions on the environment and economy of the area. The IUCN's (World Conservation Union) Invasive Species Specialist Group considers Lates niloticus one of the world's 100 worst invasive species. The state of Queensland in Australia levies heavy fines on anyone found in possession of a living Nile perch, since it competes directly with the native Barramundi, which is similar but does not reach the same size as the Nile perch.
The species is of great commercial importance as a food fish. The Nile perch is also popular with sport anglers as it attacks artificial fishing lures and is also raised in aquaculture.
(CABI 2011; Lipton 2003; Schofield 2012; Wikipedia 2012)
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Rights holder/Author | Text modified from Wikipedia |
Source | http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Northern_pike&oldid=470568308 |
Prefers sandy bottoms but also found in rocky to muddy bottoms. Zones with vegetation in calm waters provide shelter to larvae and young (Ref. 1456). Sexual dimorphism: females larger than males (Ref. 5160). Diet directly related with its length (Ref. 4726): pelagic larvae are zooplanktivores (Ref. 1456), juveniles feed on planktonic crustaceans and insect larvae found among vegetation (Ref. 11250), adults feed mainly on smaller fish species (Alestes, Micralestes, Tilapia oreochromis, Haplochromis and shrimps (Ref. 11249). Variability of prey species is directly related to the flooding season.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Crispina B. Binohlan, FishBase |
Source | No source database. |