Mormyrops (Mormyrops) masuianus Boulenger, 1898
Species overview
Large fish, body elongate, moderately compressed, moderately deep, head moderately tapering,straight, snout rounded, slightly protruding, mouth slightly subterminal; caudal peduncle long, caudal fin rather large; uniform brownish. Size observed: 398 mm SL, 441 mm TL.
M. masuianus(measurements)
Taxonomic description
-Body elongate, moderately laterally compressed, cross section oblong-oval, 14-16 % SL, greatest depth in anterior half of belly.
-Head length 23-26 % SL, head depth 12-13 % SL, 79-100 % body depth.
-Outline of back straight, outline of belly more or less straight , upper profile of head straight or feebly concave, underside of head concave.
-Snout truncate, feebly protruding mouth, 14-21 % head length, 19-29 % postorbital length.
-Mouth moderate, 14-21 % head length, slightly subterminal, its edge extending behind posterior nostril, edge of upper jaw on a level with lower edge of opercular cleft.
-Chin with moderate submental swelling, upper jaw clearly deeper than lower jaw.
-Teeth truncate, in closed lines, 12/14.
-Nostrils separate, circular, often as far away from each other as from rim of eye, posterior nostril on a level with centre of eye, anterior with lower rim of eye, their axis more or less paralell to axis of head but tilted forward downward.
-Eye small, its diameter 5-7 % head length, 7-10 % postorbital length.
-Opercular cleft curved 29-35 % head length, 57-69 % head depth.
-Dorsal fin 30-31 fin-rays, base of D 23-26 % SL, anal fin 40-46 rays, base of A 31-38 % SL, origin of D behind A, end of D before end A; predorsal length 60-65 % SL, preanal length 52-60 % SL.
-Pectoral fin rounded, its base close to opercular cleft, shorter than half its distance from pelvic fin. V is about as close to P as to A.
-Caudal fin rounded, the scaled lobes extending over 3/4 of the entire fin. 90-93 scales in lateral line; 18 round caudal peduncle.
-Caudal peduncle 9-12 % SL, its depth 4-5 % SL, 33-45 % its length.
-Coloration »Pale brownish«.
Type locality
»Upoto, Haut-Congo« (2° 00 ‘ N 21° 30 ‘ E) Democratic Republic of Congo.
Distribution
Middle Congo basin.