Marcusenius leopoldianus (Boulenger, 1899)
Species overview
Medium-sized fish, body moderately elongate and deep, outline of back straight, head uneven blunt-snouted, moderately sloping down, outline of belly slightly convex, underside of head between pectoral fin of eye concave. Uniform dark.
Size observed: 270 mm SL.
M. leopoldianus(measurements)
Taxonomic description
-Body moderately elongate, laterally compressed, body depth 24-32 % SL, greatest depth between anal and pelvic fin.
-Head length 26-29 % SL, head depth 19-21 % SL, 67-81 % body depth.
-Outline of back more or less straight, upper profile of head convex, underside of head concave, outline of belly slightly convex.
-Snout obtusely pointed, 22-29 % head length, 35-40 % postorbital length.
-Mouth wide, terminal, on a level with axis of head, 16-21 % head length, the edge below posterior nostril, upper jaw on a level with midline of head.
-Chin with short globular swelling.
-Teeth notched, 6-8/10.
-Nostrils separate, circular, as close to each other as away from front, closer than to rim of eye, anterior nostril on a level with upper rim of lens, posterior nostril on a level between centre and lower rim of the eye. Axis of nostrils making an angle of about 45° to axis of head.
-Eye slightly more than its diameter away from the front contour, diameter 9-13 % head length, 13-19 % postorbital length.
-Opercular cleft curved 38-51 % head length, 59-72 % head depth.
-Dorsal fin 24-25 fin-rays, base of D 18-21 % SL, anal fin 30-31 rays, base of A 23-28 % SL, origin of D behind origin of A, end of D before end of A; predorsal length 61-66 % SL, preanal length 58-64 % SL.
-Pectoral fin pointed, extending beyond middle of pelvic fin. V is closer to P than to A.
-Caudal fin pointed, scaled lobes obtusely pointed, extending to more than half the entire fin. 55-60 scales in lateral line; 12 round caudal peduncle.
-Caudal peduncle 16-20 % SL, its depth 6-7 % SL, 36-44 % its length.
-Coloration »Uniform blackish«.
Type locality
»Ibali« Lake Leopold II, Democratic Republic of Congo (Ibali: 03° 37 ‘ S 16° 05’ E) Lake Leopold = Lac Mai-Ndombe.
Distribution
»Congo basin«.