Teleostei (teleosts) >
Characiformes (Characins) >
Alestidae (African tetras)
Etymology: Bathyaethiops: Greek, bathys = deep + Greek, Aethiopia, an African country (Ref. 45335); baka: Named after the Baka people, the native hunter-gatherer tribe in southeastern Cameroon, where the species was found; a noun in aposition (Ref. 110423).
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Freshwater; benthopelagic; pH range: 7.1 - 7.1. Tropical; 28°C - ? (Ref. 110423)
Africa: Ngoko River (Sangha drainage, middle Congo River basin) in Cameroon (Ref. 110423).
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 2.4 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 110423)
Short description
Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics
Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 10 - 11; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 21 - 24; Vertebrae: 35 - 37. Diagnosis: Bathyaethiops baka is distinguished from all congeners by an incomplete squamation with the scale cover variably reduced to no pre-dorsal scales, usually no scales on caudal peduncle, and usually a scale-free patch on middle flank at about level of pelvic-fin origin; furthermore distinguished by a unique colour pattern, i.e., a combination of a humeral spot of about pupil-size and the absence of dark vertical bars along midlateral flanks (Ref. 110423). It is difficult to distinguish from juvenile Bathyaethiops caudomaculatus, from which it differs by the usually absence of unicuspid teeth in the second row of lower jaws vs. presence, and usually the absent or rudimentary supraneural between two neural spines directly in front of the first dorsal fin pterygiophore vs. well developed (Ref. 110423).
Found in the main river channel of Ngoko River, usually in or close to riparian vegetation over a substrate of fine particles and organic material (Ref. 110423).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae
Moritz, T. and U.K. Schliewen, 2016. Description of two new Bathyaethiops species (Teleostei: Alestidae) from the Congo basin. Zootaxa 4117(4):476-490. (Ref. 110423)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
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Estimates based on models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 0.5156 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01000 (0.00244 - 0.04107), b=3.04 (2.81 - 3.27), in cm total length, based on all LWR estimates for this body shape (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 3.0 ±0.3 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 (10 of 100).
