West African woman fish

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West African woman fish
Elops lacerta.jpg

West African womanfish ( Elops lacerta )

Systematics
Subclass : Real bony fish (Teleostei)
Cohort : Elopomorpha
Order : Elopiformes (Elopiformes)
Family : Elopidae
Genre : Woman fish ( Elops )
Type : West African woman fish
Scientific name
Elops lacerta
Valenciennes , 1847

The West African female fish ( Elops lacerta ) is a large, almost one meter long bony fish from the family of female fish (Elopidae), which occurs on the West African coast from Mauritania to Angola and Namibia . He also goes into brackish water and fresh water and is z. B. can also be found in the Cross River and in the mouth of the Kouilou .

features

The West African female fish has a very elongated body and reaches a maximum length of 90 cm, but usually remains at a length of 60 cm. The sides of the body are silvery, the back and head are bluish-green. The fins are light yellow, the outer areas of the dorsal and caudal fin black.

The species can easily be confused with the Senegalese womanfish ( Elops senegalensis ). It differs from Elops senegalensis in the smaller number of lateral line scales (72 to 83 compared to 92 to 100) and the larger number of gill rakes on the lower branch of the first gill arch (17 to 19 compared to 11 to 15 + 1 to 2).

The leptocephalus larvae of the West African female fish have a black belly edge.

Way of life

The West African female fish is found in shallow coastal waters with muddy or sandy bottoms. It feeds on smaller fish, especially herring , and on shrimp, other small crustaceans and mollusks . The grown fish spawn in the sea, the hatched leptocephalus larvae then migrate to the coast and seek out protected regions such as lagoons (e.g. the lagoon of Lagos and the Lekki lagoon ). Fish two years old or older can then migrate up the rivers and spend some time in fresh water.

literature

  • Melanie Stiassny, Guy Teugels, Carl D. Hopkins: The Fresh and Brackish Water Fishes of Lower Guinea, West-Central Africa. Volume 1, Paris 2007, ISBN 978-90-74752-20-6 .

Web links