Plotosus nkunga, Stinging eel catfish : fisheries, gamefish

Plotosus nkunga Gomon & Taylor, 1982

Stinging eel catfish
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Plotosus nkunga   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Plotosus nkunga (Stinging eel catfish)
Plotosus nkunga
Picture by Randall, J.E.

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

Teleostei (teleosts) > Siluriformes (Catfishes) > Plotosidae (Eeltail catfishes)
Etymology: Plotosus: Greek, plotos = swimming (Ref. 45335).

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

Marine; freshwater; brackish; demersal. Tropical

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

Western Indian Ocean: Kosi Bay to Knysna in South Africa. Possibly extending to Zanzibar, Tanzania.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 51.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3879)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 1; Dorsal soft rays (total): 4; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 88 - 109. Preserved specimens brown or grey above, lighter brown or whitish below; 2 faint, longitudinal stripes sometimes present on body but not extending onto head (Ref. 3977).
Body shape (shape guide): elongated.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Found in estuaries and along open coasts. Enters freshwaters of South Africa (Ref. 3879). Feeds mainly on benthic invertebrates (Ref. 3478).

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

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Taylor, W.R. and J.R. Gomon, 1986. Plotosidae. p. 160-162. In J. Daget, J.-P. Gosse and D.F.E. Thys van den Audenaerde (eds.) Check-list of the freshwater fishes of Africa (CLOFFA). ISBN, Brussels; MRAC, Tervuren; and ORSTOM, Paris. Vol. 2. (Ref. 3879)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-2)

Not Evaluated 

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Venomous (Ref. 4537)





Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial; gamefish: yes
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | National databases | OneZoom | Open Tree of Life | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | TreeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search |