Nile pike
| Nile pike | ||||||||||||
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Nile pike ( Polypterus bichir ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Polypterus bichir | ||||||||||||
| Lacepède , 1803 |
The Nile pike ( Polypterus bichir ) is a species from the family of pike (Polypteridae). The fish live in the Nile , in Lake Turkana , in the Omo , in Lake Chad and its tributaries Shari and Logone .
features
Polypterus bichir becomes a maximum of 72 centimeters long. The upper jaw is slightly longer or the same length as the lower jaw. He has 14 to 18 flössel on his back, which is a little more than is typical for flössel pike. There are 11 to 16 sheds in front of the rafts. The anal fin has 13 to 16 fin rays . The pectoral fins reach up to the second raft. As with all pike, its body is covered with hard ganoid scales. The number of scales along the lateral line organ is 63 to 70, a row around the body has 46 to 54 scales.
The fish are olive-colored, the belly whitish. There are three darker longitudinal stripes on the sides, which are more evident in young fish. On the flanks, Polypterus delhezi has seven to eight irregular but clearly visible black cross bars that extend from the back to the middle of the side. The paired fins are striped yellowish-greenish, the unpaired colorless to gray.
Way of life
The Nile pike prefers very shallow water and stays, mostly motionless, mainly on the bottom of the water. It is piscivor and feeds on bottom-dwelling fish. The spawn is placed in aquatic plants. The old animals guard and protect eggs and larvae.
literature
- Günther Sterba : The world's freshwater fish. 2nd Edition. Urania, Leipzig / Jena / Berlin 1990, ISBN 3-332-00109-4 .
Web links
- Polypterus bichir on Fishbase.org (English)
- Polypterus congicus onthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Posted by: Moelants, T., 2009. Retrieved December 1, 2013.