African moony
📖 Overview
Very common in estuaries and lagoons where reproduction takes place, marshes and lower courses of rivers, sometimes ascending over long distances into freshwater . Also lives in the sea, mainly in shallow bays and harbour areas . Sometimes found in shoals composed of several hundred individuals . Feeds on fish, shrimps, zooplankton and various small invertebrates . Neither anterolateral glandular groove nor venom gland is present . Maximum reported standard length 200 mm .
🔬 Taxonomy
🐟 Physical Description
Dorsal spines (total): 7 - 8; Dorsal soft rays (total): 32 - 38; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 36 - 38. Diagnosis: body very deep (depth greater than body length) and strongly compressed, its anterior profile very steep; head small; eyes large . Mouth small, oblique , maxilla extending beyond level of anterior eye . Jaws with villiform teeth; granular teeth present on roof of mouth and tongue . Preopercle smooth or with minute serrations; 1st gill arch with 22-27/1/7-11 (total 31-37) gill rakers . Dorsal and anal fins triangular , long-based and very high anteriorly . Only tip of dorsal fin spines visible . Pectoral fins short; pelvic fins present in young individuals, rudimentary or absent in adults . Scales covering all of body, head and bases of dorsal and anal fins . About 50 tubed scales in lateral line . Caudal fin slightly emarginated . Coloration: silvery grey/brownish , somewhat darker dorsally , with 4 dark brownish-black/soot-coloured vertical bars, more distinct in young individuals and already fading or almost absent at >50 mm SL , 1st at level of eye, 2nd between dorsal- and anal-fin origins, 3rd between tips of these fins, and 4th on caudal peduncle . In adults, dorsal and anal fin tips, basal part of dorsal and anal fins and hind caudal edge blackish; dorsal and anal fin edge and basal part of caudal fin pale; pectoral fins smoky grey to white or even transparent .: short and / or deep; Cross section: compressed.
🌀 Behaviour
Behavioural data for African moony is currently being reviewed.
🦐 Diet
Diet information for African moony is currently being compiled.
🥚 Reproduction
Distinct pairing . After a stormy courtship a female lays 15,000 or more eggs which hatch in 24 hours .
🌍 Habitat & Distribution
Marine; freshwater; brackish; pelagic-neritic. Tropical; 24°C - 28°C ; 16°N - 17°S, 25°W - 14°E west African coast, from Cape Verde to Angola (Ref.
🌿 Ecology
fish, shrimps, zooplankton (Ref
📐 Morphometrics
🌡️ Water Parameters & Tolerance
📊 Population Risk & Fisheries
🌐 Names & Taxonomy
| Language | Common Names |
|---|---|
| 🇬🇧English | African Moony · sebae silverfish |
| 🏳️Catalan | Peix diamant de l'Atlàntic |
| 🌍CES | okatec africký |
| 🇩🇰Danish | Vestafrikansk månefisk |
| 🇩🇪German | Seba-Flossenblatt |
| 🇫🇷French | Breton africain |
| 🇵🇹Portuguese | Mono-africano · Peixe-machado |
| 🇷🇺Russian | Полосатая монодактил · Полосатая рыба-ласточка |
| 🇪🇸Spanish | Rambali |
| 🇨🇳Chinese | 脂大眼鯧 |
🔍 Similar Species
🗺️ Global Occurrence Map
Occurrence records from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) — 70 records indexed .
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