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Polypterus ornatipinnis Boulenger, 1902

Ornate bichir
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Polypterus ornatipinnis
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Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Cladistii (bichirs) > Polypteriformes (Bichirs) > Polypteridae (Bichirs)
Etymology: Polypterus: Greek, poly = a lot of + Greek, pteron = wing, fin (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Boulenger.

Issue
Type locality: Monsembe (Haut Congo).

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Freshwater; demersal. Tropical; 26°C - 28°C (Ref. 1672)

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Africa: Congo River basin in Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo (Ref. 3188, Angola (Ref. 3188, 120641) and Republic of Congo (Ref. 45477). Also reported from the Lake Rukwa drainage (Ref. 27292) and Lake Tanganyika basin (Ref. 4537, 36901, 54847).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 60.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3188)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 9 - 11; Anal spines: 14 - 15. Subcylindrical body (Ref. 27292, Ref. 36901). Upper and lower jaw of equal length (Ref. 36901, Ref. 42907). Number of dorsal finlets: 9-11 (Ref. 42908, Ref. 51884). Dorsal fin origin well behind pectoral fin (Ref. 4967, Ref. 42873). Ganoid scales (Ref. 27292, Ref. 42904): 58-65 lateral line scales, 38-44 scales around body, 22-27 predorsal scales (Ref. 2970, Ref. 11970, Ref. 42907, Ref. 42908). Dorsal side grey-brown colored, marbled with clear whitish spots (Ref. 11970), the belly is white to yellowish (Ref. 27292). Head finely reticulated (Ref. 42873, Ref. 42901). Fins with white spots alternating with dark spots, forming a continuous bar (Ref. 11970).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Facultative air-breathing (Ref. 126274); Inhabits calm waters of swamps and rivers (Ref. 11970). It feeds on worms and insect larvae when young, but takes larger food, mainly fish, when adult (Ref. 27292). It mainly hunts at night (Ref. 27292). In general they are more or less solitary fish and do not form schools (Ref. 27292).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

Male starts with the courtship and is the active partner (Ref. 1672). The male makes from the anal fin a sort of cup and the female lays the eggs in this cup (Ref. 1672). The male then spreads the eggs so that they attach, e.g., to plants.

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Gosse, J.-P., 1984. Polypteridae. p. 18-29. In J. Daget, J.-P. Gosse and D.F.E. Thys van den Audenaerde (eds.) Check-list of the freshwater fishes of Africa (CLOFFA). Volume I. ORSTOM, Paris and MRAC, Tervuren. 410 p. (Ref. 3188)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 01 May 2009

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: of no interest; aquarium: public aquariums
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet compositions
Food consumptions
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growths
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversions
Recruitments
Abundances
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturities
Fecundities
Spawnings
Spawning aggregations
Egg(s)
Egg developments
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
Gill areas
Brains
Otoliths
Physiology
Body compositions
Nutrients
Oxygen consumptions
Swimming type
Swimming speeds
Visual pigment(s)
Fish sounds
Diseases / Parasites
Toxicities (LC50s)
Genetics
Genetics
Electrophoreses
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Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
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Taxonomy
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Synonyms
Morphology
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References
References

Tools

Bio-Quiz | E-book | Field guide | Length-frequency wizard | Life-history tool | Point map | Classification Tree | Catch-MSY |

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5002   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00457 (0.00195 - 0.01073), b=3.05 (2.85 - 3.25), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.7   ±0.60 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (Fec=200-300; tmax likely >= 20).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Moderate vulnerability (44 of 100).