Campylomormyrus
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| Bleeker , 1874 |
Campylomormyrus is a genus of African freshwater fish from the Nilhechte family(Mormyridae). It occurs in Central and West Africa, most species in the Congo Basin .
features
Campylomormyrus species are 20 to 65 cm long and have a short to elongated, laterally flattened body of the typical Nile pike shape. The snout is long, tubular and curved downwards, the mouth is small and terminal. A fleshy outgrowth of the lower jaw serves as a sensory organ for tracking down food. The few teeth are conical or two-pointed. The dorsal and anal fin are symmetrically opposite each other on the back of the body. Both fins are almost the same length, the dorsal fin only slightly shorter.
The fish are inconspicuous, mostly monochrome dark gray or brownish in color. Often there is a diamond-shaped light mark on the abdomen. Like all Nilhechte, Campylomormyrus species are capable of electrical communication and electrical orientation.
In older fish, the snout becomes longer and longer in relation to the body length. Some scientists therefore do not use the standard length to diagnose the species , but the distances between the tip of the snout and the eye (LM, "Length of the snout") and the eye and the base of the tail fin (LSPO, "Post-orbital standard length").
nutrition
Campylomormyrus species feed primarily on insect larvae, which they track down in the bottom of the water. Some species can eject a jet of water from their tubular mouth to expose them.
species
The genus includes 14 species:
- Campylomormyrus alces ( Boulenger , 1920)
- Campylomormyrus bredoi ( Poll , 1945)
- Campylomormyrus cassaicus (Poll, 1967)
- Campylomormyrus christyi (Boulenger, 1920)
- Campylomormyrus curvirostris (Boulenger, 1898)
- Campylomormyrus elephas (Boulenger, 1898)
- Campylomormyrus luapulaensis ( LR David & Poll, 1937)
- Campylomormyrus mirus (Boulenger, 1898)
- Ibis Nilhecht ( Campylomormyrus numenius ) (Boulenger, 1898)
- Campylomormyrus orycteropus Poll, JP Gosse & Orts , 1982
- Campylomormyrus phantasticus ( Pellegrin , 1927)
- Long-nosed Nile Pike ( Campylomormyrus rhynchophorus ) (Boulenger, 1898)
- Tamandua proboscis fish ( Campylomormyrus tamandua ) (Günther, 1864)
- Campylomormyrus tshokwe (Poll, 1967)
literature
- Melanie Stiassny, Guy Teugels & Carl D. Hopkins: The Fresh and Brackish Water Fishes of Lower Guinea, West-Central Africa, Volume 1. ISBN 9789074752206
Web links
- Campylomormyrus on Fishbase.org (English)
- Campylomormyrus (Bleeker, 1874)