Senegalese ladyfish

Senegalese ladyfish
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Elopiformes
Family: Elopidae
Genus: Elops
Species: E. senegalensis
Binomial name
Elops senegalensis
Regan, 1909

The Senegalese ladyfish, Elops senegalensis, is a species of fish in the Elopidae family, and is native to the coastal waters of the eastern Atlantic Ocean from Mauritania to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is often confused with the West African ladyfish, Elops lacerta, and can be distinguished only by the number of gill rakers on the lower part of the first gill arc, and the number of scales on the lateral line.[1]

The Senegalese ladyfish grows to a maximum total length of 90 cm and a maximum weight of 5.9 kg.[1]

Threats

This species uses estuarine areas and hypersaline lagoons; changes in the quality of these habitats may affect this species' population dynamics. Although this species may not be closely associated with any single habitat, it may be adversely affected by development and urbanization. [2]

References

  1. 1 2 Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2006). "Elops senegalensis" in FishBase. 05 2006 version.
  2. Adams, A. J., Horodysky, A. Z., McBride, R. S., Guindon, K., Shenker, J., MacDonald, T. C., Harwell, H. D., Ward, R., and Carpenter, K. Global conservation status and research needs for tarpons (Megalopidae), ladyfishes (Elopidae) and bonefishes (Albulidae). Fish and Fisheries (online, early view as of 2013). http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/faf.12017/abstract


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