Petrocephalus bovei bovei

Scientific name: Petrocephalus bovei bovei Valenciennes, 1847

Petrocephalus bovei bovei

Petrocephalus bovei bovei is a freshwater fish of the family Mormyridae that grows to about 11 cm (4.3 in). It is difficult to keep and peaceful and needs a tank of at least 75 L (20 US gal), water at 25–29°C (77–84°F) and a pH of 6.0. Native range: Africa, Chad, Niger, Volta, Gambia and Senegal river basins, also the lower Nile.

Petrocephalus bovei bovei care at a glance

Care level
Difficult
Temperament
Peaceful
Adult size
11 cm (4.3 in)
Minimum tank
75 L (20 US gal)
Temperature
25–29°C (77–84°F)
pH
6.0
Hardness
4–18 dGH (71–321 ppm)
Diet
Carnivore. Accepts flakes, frozen foods and live foods.

Biology

Affinities: P. pellegrini. Generates electric organ discharge (EOD) of short duration that seems to correlate with aggregative behavior of the species. EOD temporal pattern cues have been shown to play a role in species recognition for P. bovei. A ratio measure between olfactory and visual receptor areas suggests that this species relies more on visual than olfactory information. A fractional spawner.

Source: FishBase, licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

Species facts

Scientific name
Petrocephalus bovei bovei
Family
Mormyridae (Elephantfishes)
Order
Osteoglossiformes (Bony tongues)
Class
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned fishes)
Maximum length
11.0
Environment
Freshwater; demersal; potamodromous
Climate
Tropical
Distribution
Africa: Chad, Niger, Volta, Gambia and Senegal basins, including the Nile. Also known from C?te d'Ivoire.
Conservation status (IUCN)
Not Evaluated
Threat to humans
Harmless
Uses
Fisheries: of no interest
Resilience
High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (K=0.53-1.10; tmax=2.5)

More oddballs & predators

See all oddballs & predators

Sources

Taxonomy, distribution and biology data: FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds.), licensed CC BY-NC 4.0. Aquarium care parameters compiled, checked and converted to metric and imperial units by Guppies.za.net.

Last updated