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Parachanna africana (Steindachner, 1879)

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

Teleostei (teleosts) > Anabantiformes (Gouramies, snakeheads) > Channidae (Snakeheads)
Etymology: Parachanna: Greek, para = the side of + Greek, channe, -es = anchovy (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Steindachner.

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

Freshwater; benthopelagic. Tropical; 25°C - 28°C (Ref. 2060)

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

Africa: south Benin (lower Ouémé River) to Nigeria (lower Cross River)(Ref. 57290, 81648). Reports from Cameroon (Ref. 3575, 51193) unconfirmed and questionable (Ref. 57290, 81648). Report from Gabon dubious (Ref. 81648).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 32.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 81648)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 45 - 48; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 32 - 35. Diagnosis: body elongate, tapering backwards; lateral-line scales medium-sized, numbering 73-83; head depressed anteriorly and covered with larger scales; lower jaw slightly longer than upper, with 3-4 well developed canines; dorsal and anal fins not touching caudal fin; dorsal fin with 45-48, anal with 32-35 rays; 8-11 chevron-shaped dark bars on sides (Ref. 57290, 81648). Coloration: body light to dark grey, back and top of head darker, underside lighter; dark lateral band on head, broadening between hind margin of eye and hind margin of gill cover, followed by a large, rounded, black spot; small, rounded black spot at base of caudal fin; all fins covered with small dark spots forming more or less distinct oblique bands; ground colour of juveniles ochre, and a long, black lateral band extending from tip of snout to hind margin of caudal fin (Ref. 57290, 81648).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Obligate air-breathing (Ref. 126274); Maximum SL reported is 17.2 cm (Ref. 57290).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

The eggs of this species float to the with floating plants covered surface where they are guarded by the male.

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Teugels, G.G., 2003. Channidae. p. 443-446 In C. Lévêque, D. Paugy and G.G. Teugels (eds.) Faune des poissons d'eaux douce et saumâtres de l'Afrique de l'Ouest, Tome 2. Coll. Faune et Flore tropicales 40. Musée Royal de l'Afrique Centrale, Tervuren, Belgique, Museum National d'Histoire Naturalle, Paris, France and Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Paris, France. 815 p. (Ref. 57290)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 21 April 2019

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet compositions
Food consumptions
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growths
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversions
Recruitments
Abundances
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturities
Fecundities
Spawnings
Spawning aggregations
Egg(s)
Egg developments
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
Gill areas
Brains
Otoliths
Physiology
Body compositions
Nutrients
Oxygen consumptions
Swimming type
Swimming speeds
Visual pigment(s)
Fish sounds
Diseases / Parasites
Toxicities (LC50s)
Genetics
Genetics
Electrophoreses
Heritabilities
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
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Stamps, coins, misc.
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References

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | 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=0.00724 (0.00396 - 0.01326), b=3.01 (2.85 - 3.17), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.8   ±0.6 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low vulnerability (22 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 121 [59, 236] mg/100g; Iron = 1.02 [0.49, 1.92] mg/100g; Protein = 18.2 [16.5, 20.1] %; Omega3 = 0.271 [0.107, 0.695] g/100g; Selenium = 54.8 [19.9, 144.0] μg/100g; VitaminA = 68.4 [20.2, 219.4] μg/100g; Zinc = 1.52 [1.01, 2.32] mg/100g (wet weight);