Petrocephalus pulsivertens

Petrocephalus pulsivertens Lavoué, Sullivan & Arnegard, 2010

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drawing shows typical species in Mormyridae.

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Teleostei (teleosts) > Osteoglossiformes (Bony tongues) > Mormyridae (Elephantfishes)
Etymology: Petrocephalus: Latin, petra = stone + Greek, kephale = head (Ref. 45335); pulsivertens: The species name comes from the Latin 'pulsus', meaning impulse, beating; and from 'vertere', meaning to turn, exchange; the name describes the unusual EOD waveform of the species (Ref. 85331).

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

Freshwater; benthopelagic. Tropical

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Africa: middle Congo River basin (Ref. 85331, 113655) in Cameroon, Central African Republic and Republic of Congo.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 11.5 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 85331)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Diagnosis: Petrocephalus pulsivertens is distinguished from all other Petrocephalus species in Central Africa by the following combination of characteristics: dorsal fin with at least 25 branched rays; anal fin with at least 31 branched rays; mouth large, the ratio head length and mouth width between 2.0 and 3.7; 15-21 teeth in the upper jaw; 24-30 teeth in the lower jaw; and eye large, the ratio head length and eye-diameter between 3,2 and 3,5 (Ref. 85331). Pigmentation pattern consists of two distinctive melanin markings (black patches): (1) a distinct ovoid mark below the anterior base of the dorsal fin; and (2) a crescent-like mark, sometimes diffuse, centered at the base of the caudal fin and extending onto the upper and lower parts of the caudal fin (Ref. 85331).
Body shape (shape guide): fusiform / normal.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

The EOD waveform of Petrocephalus pulsivertens resembles an inverted-polarity version of the 'typical' Petrocephalus EOD (Ref. 85331).

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

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Lavoué, S., J.P. Sullivan and M.E. Arnegard, 2010. African weakly electric fishes of the genus Petrocephalus (Osteoglossomorpha: Mormyridae) of Odzala National Park, Republic of the Congo (Lékoli River, Congo River basin) with description of five new species. Zootaxa 2600:1-52. (Ref. 85331)

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

Not Evaluated 

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





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