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Schilbe mystus (Linnaeus, 1758)

African butter catfish
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Schilbe mystus
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Ghana country information

Common names: Butter fish, Butterfish, Gada-sagbadakoe
Occurrence: native
Salinity: freshwater
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: commercial | Ref:
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: live export: yes;
Comments: Known from Tano River (Ref. 272) and Volta basin (Ref. 30488, 43912, 57127). Importance to fisheries provided by H. Dankwa, pers. comm. 06/05. Also Ref. 3799.
National Checklist:
Country Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/gh.html
National Fisheries Authority:
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Teugels, G.G., C. Lévêque, D. Paugy and K. Traoré, 1988
National Database:

Common names from other countries

Classification / Names Nombres comunes | Sinónimos | Catalog of Fishes(Género, Especie) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

> Siluriformes (Catfishes) > Schilbeidae (Schilbid catfishes)
Etymology: mystus: Named for Mr. Adanson, collector of the type material of this species (Ref. 43912).
  More on author: Linnaeus.

Issue
This species was commonly known as Schilbe (Eutropius) niloticus; the morphological examination of the holotype of Silurus mystus Linnaeus, 1758 (De Vos and Skelton, 1990) has shown that this specimen and Schilbe (Eutropius) niloticus Rüppel, 1829 belong to the same species; this results in the substitution of the name S. niloticus by the oldest name available, in this case, S. mystus.

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

; agua dulce demersal; potamodromo (Ref. 51243); rango de profundidad 4 - 69 m.   Tropical; 23°C - 27°C (Ref. 1672); 25°N - 27°S, 17°W - 45°E

Distribución Países | Áreas FAO | Ecosistemas | Ocurrencias, apariciones | Point map | Introducciones | Faunafri

Africa: Nilo-Sudanese species, known from the Nile basin and in West Africa from the Senegal River eastwards to the Cross, Wouri and Sanaga River, including the Chad basin (Ref. 43912). Various reports, including from the Ogowe and Congo River basin or Zambia and Zimbabwe, are based on misidentifications (Ref. 43912). Reports from Angola and Tanzania are questionable and need confirmation.

Length at first maturity / Tamaño / Peso / Age

Maturity: Lm 13.1, range 15 - ? cm
Max length : 35.0 cm SL macho / no sexado; (Ref. 57127); peso máximo publicado: 250.00 g (Ref. 3799); edad máxima reportada: 7 años (Ref. 7248)

Short description Claves de identificación | Morfología | Morfometría

Espinas dorsales (total) : 1; Radios blandos dorsales (total) : 6. Diagnosis: adipose fin present (Ref. 43912, 57127, 81643) and fully developed (Ref. (Ref. 57127, 81643). Anterior nostrils more closer to each other than to posterior ones; inner margin of pectoral-fin spine strongly denticulate posteriorly (Ref. 43912, 57127, 81643). Nasal barbel reaching to anterior eye margin (Ref. 57127, 81643), but never extending beyond posterior margin of eye (Ref. 43912, 57127, 81643). Mouth subterminal (Ref. 57127, 81643), snout reaching beyond lower jaw (Ref. 43912). 45-64 branched anal-fin rays and 8-15 gill rakers on lower limb of first gill arch (Ref. 43912, 57127, 81643).

Biología     Glosario (por ej. epibenthic)

Lacustrine as well as fluviatile species, confined to lakes and moderate to large rivers (Ref. 43912). Shoals in standing or slowly flowing open water with emergent or submerged vegetation. Generally more active at night or in subdued light. Feed from mid-water and surface waters on a wide variety of foods including fish, insects, shrimps, snails, plant seeds, and fruit. Oviparous, eggs are unguarded (Ref. 205). Often important spawning migrations occur (Ref. 43912). Breed during the rainy season and may be either a single or multiple spawner in different localities, laying eggs on vegetation. May live up to 6-7 years (Ref. 7248). Max total length 45.0mm (Ref. 43912). Also caught with drawnets. In general considered as a flavoured, first class eating fish (Ref. 43912).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproducción | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larva

Distinct pairing (Ref. 205).

Main reference Upload your references | Referencias | Coordinador | Colaboradores

De Vos, L., 1995. A systematic revision of the African Schilbeidae (Teleostei, Siluriformes). With an annotated bibliography. Ann. Mus. R. Afr. Centr., Sci. Zool., 271:1-450. (Ref. 43912)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 04 November 2019

CITES (Ref. 128078)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless




Human uses

Pesquerías: comercial; pesca deportiva: si; Acuario: Comercial
FAO(Publication : search) | FishSource |

Más información

Trophic ecology
componentes alimenticios
Diet compositions
Food consumptions
Food rations
Despredadores
Ecology
Ecología
Home ranges
Life cycle
Reproducción
Maturities
Fecundities
Spawnings
Spawning aggregations
Egg(s)
Egg developments
Larva
Dinámica larvaria
Anatomy
Gill areas
Cerebros
Otolitos
Physiology
Body compositions
Nutrients
Oxygen consumptions
Tipo de natación
Swimming speeds
Visual pigment(s)
Sonidos de peces
Diseases / Parasites
Toxicities (LC50s)
Genetics
Genética
Electrophoreses
Heritabilities
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Perfiles de acuicultura
Razas
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
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References
Referencias

Herramientas

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Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00832 (0.00658 - 0.01052), b=3.00 (2.93 - 3.07), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Nivel trófico (Ref. 69278):  3.5   ±0.4 se; based on diet studies.
Resiliencia (Ref. 120179):  Medio, población duplicada en un tiempo mínimo de 1.4-4.4 años (K=0.09-0.94; tmax=6-7; assuming fec > 10,000).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Moderate vulnerability (40 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.