Mormyrus

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Mormyrus
Mormyrus sp.

Mormyrus sp.

Systematics
Overcohort : Osteoglossomorpha (Osteoglossomorpha)
Order : Bony tongues (Osteoglossiformes)
Subordination : Knifefish-like (Notopteroidei)
Family : Nilhechte (Mormyridae)
Subfamily : Mormyrinae
Genre : Mormyrus
Scientific name
Mormyrus
Linnaeus , 1758

Mormyrus is a genus of African freshwater fish from the Nilhechte family(Mormyridae). It occurs in all regions of sub-Saharan tropical Africa as well as in the Nile .

features

Mormyrus species are 14.5 to 100 cm long and have a very elongated, laterally flattened body for Nilhechte. The muzzle is long, often tubular and more or less 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 5 to 12 teeth in the upper jaw and 8 to 14 in the lower jaw are indented and small. The dorsal and anal fin are not symmetrical, as is the case with many other species of Nilhecht, but the genus has a very long dorsal fin, which extends over most of the trunk, and a short anal fin. The pelvic fins lie halfway between the pectoral fins and the anal fin. In the species of the very similar genus Myomyrus from the Congo Basin , they are closer to the pectoral fins. Mormyrus also differs from myomyrus in its terminal mouth and small teeth . The mouth of the myomyrus is subordinate, and the genus has several enlarged teeth on the mandibular symphysis .

The fish are inconspicuous, mostly monochrome gray or brownish in color. Like all Nilhechte, Mormyrus species are capable of electrical communication and electrical orientation.

species

The genus includes over 20 species:

Mormyrus hasselquistii
Mormyrus kannume
Mormyrus rume

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

Commons : Mormyrus  - collection of images, videos and audio files