You can sponsor this page

Hepsetus cuvieri (Castelnau, 1861)

Southern African Pike
Upload your photos and videos
Pictures | Google image
Image of Hepsetus cuvieri (Southern African Pike)
Hepsetus cuvieri
Picture by Mertens, P.

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

Teleostei (teleosts) > Characiformes (Characins) > Hepsetidae (African pikes)
Etymology: Hepsetus: Greek, epsetas, -e, -on = boiled, but there is the following sentence: "oí epsetoi" = certain fishes, and also could be related to "psetta" = grouper (Ref. 45335).

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

Freshwater; demersal. Tropical

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

Africa: Quanza, Cunene, Okavango, upper Zambezi and Kafue River systems; in the Congo River basin present in the southernmost part of the Kasai basin and in the lower Luapula River (Ref. 93907).

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 25.0  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 37.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 30518); max. reported age: 5 years (Ref. 2750)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 9; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 12. Diagnosis: Hepsetus cuvieri can be distinguished from Hepsetus odoe based on a lower total number of gill rakers on the first gill arch, being 8–13 versus 14–21; a generally higher number of scales between the dorsal fin and the lateral line, 10.5–11.5 versus 7.5–10.5; a typically higher number of scales between the adipose fin and the lateral line, 6.5–7.5 versus 4.5–6.5; and a unique colour pattern characterized by a mottled appearance of the dark brown blotches on the lateral surface of the body versus the presence of vertical brown stripes/bars in that region in Hepsetus odoe (Ref. 93907).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Prefers quiet, deep water, like channels and lagoons of large floodplains; juveniles and fry inhabit well-vegetated marginal habitats (Ref. 7248). Adults feed on fish, juveniles feed on small invertebrates and fish (Ref. 7248). Multiple spawner; breeds over the summer months; relatively short-lived, only 4-5 years; also caught with drawnets (Ref. 7248).

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

Builds a free-floating bubblenest.

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Zengeya, T.A., E. Decru and E. Vreven, 2011. Revalidation of Hepsetus cuvieri (Castelnau, 1861) (Characiformes: Hepsetidae) from the Quanza, Zambezi and southern part of the Congo ichthyofaunal provinces. J. Nat. Hist. 45(27-28):1723-1744. (Ref. 93907)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 28 July 2019

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Gamefish: yes
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
Heritabilities
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
Collaborators
References
References

Tools

Special reports

Download XML

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 | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5312   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00501 (0.00208 - 0.01208), b=3.13 (2.92 - 3.34), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.0   ±0.4 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Generation time: 4.1 ( na - na) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 2 growth studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Moderate vulnerability (35 of 100).