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Phago loricatus Günther, 1865

African pike-characin
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drawing shows typical species in Distichodontidae.


Nigeria country information

Common names: Kifi tsuntsu, Opukumogwu-igba
Occurrence: native
Salinity: freshwater
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: | Ref:
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: live export: yes;
Comments: Widely distributed except Chad basin (Ref. 31256). Known from the Ogun River, Niger Delta and Benué river (Ref. 2936, 13331, 86396). Also Ref. 7940.
National Checklist:
Country Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/ni.html
National Fisheries Authority:
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Gosse, J.P., E.J. Coenen and G.G. Teugels, 2003
National Database:

Common names from other countries

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

Teleostei (teleosts) > Characiformes (Characins) > Distichodontidae (Distichodus)
Etymology: Phago: Greek, phago, -onis = voracious.
  More on author: Günther.

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

Freshwater; demersal; pH range: 6.0 - 7.2; dH range: ? - 15.   Tropical; 22°C - 27°C (Ref. 12468)

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

Africa: Ouémé in Benin, Niger Delta, Bénoué and Ogun in Nigeria (Ref. 2936, 86396), and Cross in Cameroon (Ref. 51193, 81638, 86396). Also reported from the Wouri River (Ref. 2936).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 16.5 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 2936); max. published weight: 5.00 g (Ref. 3799)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 11-13; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 10 - 12. Diagnosis: scales large and hard; peculiar jaws; no canines; 6 scales around caudal peduncle (Ref. 2936, 86396). 46-48 (Ref. 81638) or 45-50 (Ref. 2936, 86396) scales in lateral line. 1.0 (Ref. 81638) or 1.5-2.0 (Ref. 86396) scales above lateral line. 2.0-2.5 scales below lateral line (Ref. 86396).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Feeds on large insects and fish (Ref. 7020).

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

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Gosse, J.-P. and E.J. Coenen, 1990. Distichodontidae. p. 237-260. 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 and O.R.S.T.O.M., Paris, 384 p. (Ref. 2936)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 11 May 2019

CITES (Ref. 128078)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless




Human uses

Fisheries: of no interest; aquarium: commercial
FAO(Publication : search) | FishSource |

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Internet sources

Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | Faunafri | Fishtrace | GenBank(genome, nucleotide) | GloBI | GOBASE | | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Scirus | SeaLifeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia(Go, Search) | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.6250   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00380 (0.00147 - 0.00981), b=3.11 (2.88 - 3.34), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.7   ±0.59 se; based on food items.
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low vulnerability (10 of 100).